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Forest Sciences

2004

Red-cockaded woodpecker

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Recovery: An Integrated Strategy, D. Craig Rudolph, Richard N. Conner, Jeffrey R. Walters Jan 2004

Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Recovery: An Integrated Strategy, D. Craig Rudolph, Richard N. Conner, Jeffrey R. Walters

Faculty Publications

Populations of the red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) have experienced massive declines since European colonization of North America. This is due to extensive habitat loss and alteration. Logging of old-growth pine forests and alteration of the fire regime throughout the historic range of the species were the primary causes of population decline. Listing of the red-cockaded woodpecker under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended, and increased emphasis on management of non-game species have resulted in efforts to recover remnant populations of the red-cockaded woodpecker in many parts of its historic range. Due to extensive research and adaptive management initiatives …


The Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Cavity Tree: A Very Special Pine, Richard N. Conner, D. Craig Rudolph, Daniel Saenz, Robert H. Johnson Jan 2004

The Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Cavity Tree: A Very Special Pine, Richard N. Conner, D. Craig Rudolph, Daniel Saenz, Robert H. Johnson

Faculty Publications

The adaptation of red-cockaded woodpeckers (Picoides borealis) to fire-maintained southern pine ecosystems has included the development of behaviors that permit the species to use living pines for their cavity trees. Their adaptation to pine ecosystems has also involved a major adjustment in the species' breeding system to cooperative breeding, probably in response to the extended time period required to excavate a completed cavity in a living pine and the relative rarity of completed cavities for nesting. The characteristics of live pines make them variable in their suitability as cavity trees, leading to the evolution of selection behavior among woodpeckers. Red-cockaded …


Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Status And Management: West Gulf Coastal Plain And Interior Highlands, D. Craig Rudolph, Richard N. Conner, Richard R. Schaefer, Daniel Saenz, Dawn K. Carrie, N. Ross Carrie, Ricky W. Maxey, Warren G. Montague, Joe Neal, Kenneth Moore, John Skeen, Jeffrey A. Reid Jan 2004

Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Status And Management: West Gulf Coastal Plain And Interior Highlands, D. Craig Rudolph, Richard N. Conner, Richard R. Schaefer, Daniel Saenz, Dawn K. Carrie, N. Ross Carrie, Ricky W. Maxey, Warren G. Montague, Joe Neal, Kenneth Moore, John Skeen, Jeffrey A. Reid

Faculty Publications

Red-cockaded woodpecker populations declined precipitously following European settlement and expansion and cutting of the original pine forests across the southeastern United States. By 1990 most residual populations lacked demographic viability, existed in degraded habitat, and were isolated from other populations. The primary causes of this situation were harvest of the original pine forests of the southeastern United States, conversion of forested lands to other uses, short-rotation silvicultural practices, and alteration of the fire regime in the regenerated forests. As social and legal mandates changed, management of red-cockaded woodpeckers became a higher priority. Intensive management for red-cockaded woodpeckers is currently practiced …


Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Nestling Provisioning And Reproduction In Two Different Pine Habitats, Richard R. Schaefer, Richard N. Conner, D. Craig Rudolph, Daniel Saenz Jan 2004

Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Nestling Provisioning And Reproduction In Two Different Pine Habitats, Richard R. Schaefer, Richard N. Conner, D. Craig Rudolph, Daniel Saenz

Faculty Publications

We obtained nestling provisioning and reproductive data from 24 Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis) groups occupying two different pine habitats-longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and a mixture of loblolly (P. taeda) and shortleaf pine (P. echinata)--in eastern Texas during 1990 and 1901. Habitat data were collected within 800 m of each group's cavity-tree cluster. Feeding trips per nest and prey biomass per feeding trip were significantly greater in lohlolly-shortleaf pine habitat. There were few significant correlations between reproductive/provisioning and habitat variables in either pine habitat. Pines dying from infestation by southern pine beetles (Dendroctonus frontalis) were more common in loblolly-shortleaf than in …


Influence Of Habitat And Number Of Nestlings On Partial Brood Loss In Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers, James R. Mccormick, Richard N. Conner, D. Brent Burt, Daniel Saenz Jan 2004

Influence Of Habitat And Number Of Nestlings On Partial Brood Loss In Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers, James R. Mccormick, Richard N. Conner, D. Brent Burt, Daniel Saenz

Faculty Publications

Partial brood loss in red-cockaded woodpeckers (Picoides borealis) was studied during 2 breeding seasons in eastern Texas. The timing of partial brood loss, group size, number of initial nestlings, number of birds fledged, and habitat characteristics of the group's cavity-tree cluster were examined for 37 woodpecker groups in loblolly- (Pinus taeda) shortleaf (P. echinata) pine habitat and 14 groups in longleaf (P palustris) pine habitat. Partial brood loss occurred slightly more in the loblolly-shortleaf pine habitat than in the longleaf pine habitat, largely because nests in loblolly-shortleaf habitat initially contained more nestlings. …