Office of the Regional Executive for Biology - Central Region
 |
| About USGS / Science Topics / Maps, Products & Publications / Partnerships / Education / Newsroom / Jobs |
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Research Needs
TITLE: Baseline Ecological Data and
Studies of Forest Fragmentation of Bottomland Hardwood Forest in
East Texas, Eastern Oklahoma, Eastern Kansas and Lower
Mississippi Valley
SUBMITTING BUREAU: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Originating Office: Region 2
DATE SUBMITTED: March 30, 1995
BIN NUMBER: FWS07CR98
BRD REGION: Central
DESCRIPTION OF NEED: Bottomland hardwood forest is essential habitat for many bird species, for breeding , wintering , and migration. In order to determine appropriate management actions on lands that the Service manages, as well as provide information / advise to other landowners and partners in conserving bottomland hardwoods, the Service needs information on the effects of forest fragmentation , importance of size of areas, and evaluation of silvicultural and harvest techniques, as well as baseline information on population sizes, trends, and productivity.
MANAGEMENT PROBLEM WITH NEED: The Service has responsibility for protecting migratory birds under the MBTA. The Service needs more information on distribution, abundance, productivity, and effects of management on birds that use bottomland hardwood forest in order to better protect these species. This information is also useful for land acquisition projects.
BUREAU CONTACT:
Kathy Granillo, Region 2, (505)-248-6818
Frank Bowers, Region 4, (404) 679-7188
Wayne King, Region 6, (303) 236-8155, ext 256
BRD PRIMARY CENTER: NWRC
BRD CENTER CONTACT: Virginia Burkett
RESULTS OF BRD-INITIATED COMMUNICATION (FY99): NWRC scientists contacted FWS personnel in Kansas, Texas and Louisiana as well as staff in FWS Regional Offices 2 and 4, to determine specific research and technical assistance needs. In East Texas, Sammy King, Wylie Barrow and Virginia Burkett discussed information needs relative to bottomland hardwood management with Jim Neal, a FWS private lands coordinator in Northeast Texas. Concerns in East Texas center on the impacts of forest management practices on native flora and fauna. Sammy accompanied Jim on site visits to several bottomland hardwood tracts in East Texas that the FWS is co-managing with Champion International. Sammy suggested treatments for privately-held lands and for an old growth tract in Little Sandy NWR. In an earlier effort, Sammy and Wylie assisted Keith Ouchley at LSU in developing a DJ/PR proposal to fund a regional study of wildlife response to wetland forest management practices. This proposal, developed in cooperation with Jim Neal, was not funded in FY98 but will be resubmitted.
FWS managers also expressed concern about a bottomland hardwood forest tract at Longhorn Arsenal on Caddo Lake in East Texas, which they are seeking to have donated by the Army to the NWR system. Virginia Burkett wrote a chapter about the significance of this tract as one of the few remaining virgin wetland forests in east Texas in a new book entitled Wilderness and Natural Areas in Eastern North America. The FWS is planning to use the chapter to support its acquisition requests for the "Harrison Bayou Tract" at Longhorn Arsenal, which contains several champion hardwoods and endangered species. Copies of this book, published in November, 1998, were provided to both Jim Neal and Kathy Granillo. Another NWRC scientist, Bob Keeland, is working on another wetland forest management project at Longhorn Arsenal with Roy Darville of East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, TX. In addition, Bob periodically monitors the establishment of bald cypress seedlings at Caddo Lake, in a project undertaken at the request of the FWS and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in 1993.
In Kansas, Sammy King assisted managers at Marais des Cygnes NWR in developing a management plan for a bottomland hardwood tract. Technical assistance was similar to that provided in East Texas but only one site visit was made.
Another concern expressed by Kathy Granillo was the loss of migratory bird habitat and the lack of information describing tract size requirements for breeding and wintering bird use. In this regard, on 11/30/98 Kathy transmitted to NWRC the following additional paragraph for this BIN on behalf of several FWS regions:
"Increased emphasis is needed on validating basic biological assumptions regarding forest size/composition and nongame bird use. We need to better monitor bird usage, reproduction, food production, etc. in relation to forest patch size and silvicultural practices. There is a need to address (1) number of breeding pairs needed to be a source population in different forest block sizes, and (2) relationship of forest composition/health/size on forest bird feeding strategies. This addition was agreed to by Region 2, 3, 4, and 6."
Relative to this additional BIN language, Wylie Barrow assisted Brazoria NWR in South Texas in determine wintering and breeding bird use of forests in the Columbia bottomlands region. Mike Lange at Brazoria NWR is our FWS contact for this work, which was requested in a letter from Ron Bisbee, Project Manager for the Brazoria, San Bernard and Big Boggy NWR Complex. Mike Lange visited NWRC on 1-1-98 to review the data collected during the breeding season and the overwintering period of 1997-98. Wylie and Mike have established 43 locations in the Dance Bayou Tract where seasonal point counts are taken. Virginia Burkett at NWRC also provided guidance to Mike in establishing a hardwood nursery at Brazoria NWR, to provide seedlings for various regeneration projects that he is undertaking with volunteer groups.
The following additional work was undertaken by Wylie Barrow's team relative to forest size/composition and non-game birds:
1. Monitoring bird usage: Point counts (n = # of stations) were used to monitor bird abundance and species richness on grids established in bottomland hardwood forests at Cache River, AR (n=47) [Blackwater WMA], Coossawhatchie River, SC (n=60), and Iatt Creek, LA (n=44) [Kisatchie NF]. Breeding birds were monitored for 4 years and wintering birds for 3 yrs.
2. Bird-forest structure and composition relationships: Vegetation structure and species composition was measured within 50m radius plots at each point count station. Analyses are underway to determine bird-vegetation relations at all sites. If funds become available, a similar analysis will be conducted in Columbia bottomlands, Texas.
3. Mollicy Farms Reforestation: At the request of Kelby Ouchley, FWS LA Wetland Management Distrct, we analyzed the General Land Office Survey records for Region 4's Mollicy Farms tract (19,000 acres, agricultural landscape) to determine the historical bottomland hardwood forest composition. The data, to the extent possible, will be used to guide reforestation efforts for the tract. This project entailed several trips to the tract and the State Lands Office in Baton Rouge.
4. "Relationship of coastal forest composition and integrity to en route migrant feeding strategies: A pilot study." A pilot study was conducted in chenier forests of Cameron Parish, LA. The goal was to develop a protocol to determine important food plants and special habitat features in these remnant bottomland forests to fall migrating landbirds. If a full study is funded, results will be used by state and federal agencies and NGOs for restoration planning in coastal hardwood forests of the Gulf of Mexico.
5. Delta NWR: Assessment of stopover and wintering habitat for migratory birds. In the spring of 1997, the FWS refuge division funded a graduate student at LSU to study the value of crevasse wetlands, levees and woodlands of Delta NWR to trans-Gulf migratory landbirds. Wylie Barrow of NWRC is the major advisor for this student and has worked closely with him in design of this study, as well as field work. James Harris, a biologist for SE LA Refuges Complex is the principal FWS contact for Wylie and the graduate student.
Kathy Granillo was particularly supportive of two BRD technology transfer projects that NWRC will complete in FY99. Staff from NWRC and the Gaylord Laboratory are planning a workshop on bottomland hardwood management in March of 1999 at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. This workshop is being planned specifically to transfer technical information to management practitioners, and Kathy and many other FWS employees are planning to attend. The second information project involves the publication of NWRC's new bottomland hardwood restoration manual, which is currently being laid out by the NWRC graphics staff. This large publication has been requested by staff in FWS Regions 2 and 4.
Relative to bottomland hardwood reforestation in the Lower MS River Valley, this year NWRC staff worked with Ronnie Haynes (FWS, R4) to develop a new cooperative project that will involve equal funding by NWRC and FWS R4 to evaluate the success of bottomland hardwood reforestation projects undertaken through various FWS programs in recent years. Bob Keeland at NWRC is the contact for this project.
Two other co-funded research efforts respond directly to this BIN. On December 18, 1997 NWRC provided Frank Bowers (FWS, R4) with reports on these particular Research Partnership Projects:
Management Activities Which affect the Spread of Cogon Grass Into and Within Wet Pine Savannas on Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR (Jim Grace, NWRC PI)
Immediate Response of Bird Communities to Growing Season Burn in Wet Pine Savannas on the Mississippi Gulf Coast (Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR) (Wylie Barrow, NWRC PI)
Bob Stewart, Jimmy Johnston, Carroll Cordes and Virginia Burkett attended the FWS Lower MS Valley Ecosystem team meeting on August 11-12, 1998. There was much interest expressed in NWRC projects in the basin, the bottomland hardwood restoration manual, remote sensing and GIS support provided by NWRC for the CWPRA program and the 1999 bottomland hardwood workshop. Also at this meeting the FWS team voted unanimously to place emphasis on the White River Basin in AR for restoration and management in FY99. After the meeting, NWRC staff organized a meeting for Larry Mallard at White River NWR to identify research needs and conservation opportunities in the White River Basin. Sammy King co-hosted this workshop on October 15, 1998 at AR Fish and Game Headquarters. Approximately 40 people attended, representing 13 agencies/groups. Several committees were developed and each was asked to identify and prioritize information needs, which Sammy will compile for the Refuge. Another major outcome of the meeting was the interest in developing a comprehensive "restoration strategy" for the basin.
Bob Keeland organized a Bottomland Hardwood Restoration session the Association of Southeastern Biologists Meeting on April 17-18 in Monroe, LA. Ronnie Haynes, Harry Cook, and Kelby Ouchley from FWS R4 were among those in attendance.
Managers at several refuges in the states covered by this BIN have requested aerial photography and/or mapping of bottlomland habitats for various purposes. The following is a brief listing of these projects and similar technical assistance and research conducted on these refuges in FY98:
Alabama
Bon Secour NWR
Arkansas
Cache River NWR
Felsenthal NWR
Monitoring success of forested wetland restoration and management practices and dam operations
Monitoring and improving wildlife habitat management techniques, particularly greentree reservoirs
Genetic diversity of bottomland hardwoods study
Oakwood NWR
White River NWR
Louisiana
Atchafalaya NWR
Bayou Sauvage NWR
Big Branch NWR
Bogue Chitto NWR
Catahoula NWR
D'Arbonne NWR
Delta NWR
Lake Ophelia NWR
Tensas NWR
Upper Ouachita NWR
Mississippi
Hillside NWR
Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR
Noxubee NWR
Panther Swamp NWR
Yazoo NWR
Texas
Brazoria NWR
DATE SUBMITTED TO REGIONAL OFFICE:December 18, 1998
PREPARED BY: Dr.Virginia Burkett, USGS, BRD, National Wetlands Research Center, 700 Cajundome Blvd., Lafayette, LA 7050-6
(318-266-8636), virginia_burkett@usgs.gov
RESULTS OF BRD-INITIATED COMMUNICATION (FY98):
Contacts:
Dan Twedt, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
Wylie Barrow, National Wetlands Research Center
Jimmy Johnston, National Wetlands Research Center
Sammy King, National Wetlands Research Center
Jim Neal, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Kathy Granillo, Region 2, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Frank Bowers, Region 4, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Wayne King, Region 6, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Actions:
Discussions with Kathy Granillo, Region 2, and Frank Bowers, Region 4, confirmed that this BIN remains a research priority in both geographic regions. Fragmentation of bottomland hardwood systems, both on federal lands and private lands, is occurring. Of special concern to wildlife managers is the impact of such fragmentation on wildlife communities, especially impacts to neotropical migrant land birds. Wayne King, Region 6, identified a specific need for baseline surveys of the floral and faunal components of the Maris Des Cygnes NWR in eastern Kansas, a newly acquired bottomland hardwood area.
In response to these concerns, Dan Twedt, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, initiated research in the Lower Mississippi Valley (LMV) in FY96 to examine relationships between forests patch size and the abundance and diversity of breeding neotropical migrant songbirds. This research is in progress. Information Bulletin #57 entitled, "Area and distribution of forested habitat within the Mississippi Alluvial Valley" was prepared in 1995 by Dr. Twedt, in support of this effort.
Wylie Barrow, National Wetlands Research Center, completed a pilot point-count survey of neotropical migrant songbirds in a 700-acre fragment of bottomland hardwoods in southeast Texas. This survey was conducted at the request of FWS Region 2 personnel affiliated with the Brazoria-San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge Complex. These baseline data on bird species composition and abundance provide an initial basis upon which to evaluate bottomland fragmentation along the Texas coast.
Jimmy Johnston and Steve Hartley, National Wetlands Research Center, are conducting a GPA analysis for Louisiana that will be completed during FY98. The analysis will delineate forest fragmentation for the Louisiana portion of the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley.
Sammy King, National Wetlands Research Center, and Lee Fredrickson, University of Missouri, recently visited the Maris Des Cygnes NWR in Kansas to recommend to the FWS that a core area of the refuge be set aside as a naturally thriving bottomland forest. Plans for possible construction of a Green Tree Reservoir were discussed, with Sammy King and Lee Fredrickson recommending that such construction be relegated to the periphery of the refuge.
Jim Neal, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, worked with representatives of the National Wetlands Research Center, FWS Region 2, and the U.S. Forest Service to form an interagency task force to identify bottomland hardwood issues in east Texas, western Louisiana, southeastern Oklahoma, and southwestern Arkansas. The task force has met periodically to exchange information. Recently, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department prepared a 24-minute video tape entitled, "Forests of the River Bottom." This video clearly summarizes the values of bottomland forests and identifies some management issues related to these ecosystems. Copies of the video tape were made available to FWS Region 2 personnel.
DATE SUBMITTED TO REGIONAL OFFICE: December 5, 1997
PREPARED BY: Carroll L. Cordes, National Wetlands Research Center, 700 Cajundome Blvd., Lafayette, LA 70506, e-mail: carroll_cordes@usgs.gov
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://biology.usgs.gov/cro/98fws-7.htm
Page Contact Information:
tlwilliams@usgs.gov
Page Last Modified:
