Woodland and savanna habitats have been reduced to less than 10% of their historical aerial coverage in the Midwest. Declines in these habitat types may have caused declines of Prairie Warbler, Field Sparrow, Blue-winged Warbler, Brown-headed Nuthatch and Northern Bobwhite, which are all classified as species of regional concern by Partners in Flight.

To increase the amount and quality of woodlands and savannas, state and federal resource management agencies have been using prescribed fire and thinning. Little is known, however, about how birds are responding to these restoration efforts. This project was designed to assess how densities of priority bird species associated with both mature forest and early-successional stages are changing as management progresses.

Natural communities targeted for restoration in the Central Hardwoods Bird Conservation Region include Tennessee barrens, glade-savanna-woodland complexes, and oak and pine-oak woodlands.

Although the use of thinning and prescribed fire to restore natural communities is now widely practiced by land-management agencies throughout the Central Hardwoods region, the practice is still new enough that only a few areas have begun to achieve desired conditions. The number of potential survey sites is limited by the number of restoration areas that are reaching fruition.

Research scientists associated with the US Forest Service and the University of Missouri developed a sampling design and point count survey methodology appropriate for estimating densities of a suite of species of concern. In 2007, partners in three states - Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee - used these methods to conduct point-count surveys for 14 bird species at each of 10 managed and 10 control sites (see map). At each site, several point counts were conducted along a transect, for a total of 237 point locations. Roughly half of the points were on actively managed sites that are nearing desired conditions (125) and half were on unmanaged (control) sites within the same landscapes and with similar ecological potential (112). Fifty-eight points were sampled in Arkansas, 154 in Missouri, and 25 in Tennessee.

Preliminary survey data from the 2007 field season.

The species surveyed were Acadian Flycatcher, Brown Thrasher, Blue-winged Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Eastern Wood-pewee, Field Sparrow, Indigo Bunting, Louisiana Waterthrush, Ovenbird, Pileated Woodpecker, Prairie Warbler, Summer Tanager, Worm-eating Warbler and Wood Thrush.

The table shows raw data from the point counts, before accounting for differences in species detection probabilities. The expectation was that Acadian Flycatchers, Waterthrushes, Ovenbirds, Worm-eating Warblers, Pileated Woodpeckers and Wood Thrushes would be more common in the control than in the managed sites, and the reverse would be true for the other species.

Point-count surveys will be conducted again in 2008. At that point, data will be analyzed to determine densities of each species in control vs. managed locations.

• Ozark National Forest
• Mark Twain National Forest
• Missouri Department of Conservation
• Arnold Engineering Development Center