Northern Bobwhite in The Bend

Northern bobwhite quail have been steadily declining in numbers due to habitat loss brought on by changes in how humans manage the land.

From Northern Bobwhite Conservation Initiative (NBCI): [which] is the unified strategic effort of 25 state fish and wildlife agencies and various conservation organizations — all under the umbrella of the National Bobwhite Technical Committee — to restore wild populations of bobwhite quail in this country to levels comparable to 1980.

Bobwhites signify the decline of an entire suite of species adapted to grassland ecosystems in the United States. The root causes of the declines are the same, habitat loss at the continental scale: the near demise of the pine-barrens of the northeast; longleaf pine-wiregrass ecosystem of the south; the oak savannas of the central hardwoods; the shortleaf pine-bluestem ecosystem of the midwest; or the prairies of the southwest. These ecosystems were once maintained through fire and grazing which sustained a ground cover of vegetation with the appropriate structure and composition for bobwhites. The habitats bobwhites rely on have structural and plant composition characteristics that are shared by a myriad of species which, unfortunately, are also sharing a similar fate as bobwhites. 

Bobwhites and grassland birds can be increased and sustained on working public and private lands across their range by improving and managing native grassland and early successional habitats, accomplished through modest, voluntary adjustments in how humans manage rural land.

In order to understand habitat from the perspective of a bobwhite, you need to lie down and put one cheek of your face on the ground. This is a quail’s eye view of the world. For a bobwhite to survive, everything they need must be found within 6-10 inches of the ground, whether it is a clump of bunchgrass to nest in, a patch of ragweed or Croton to forage for insects and seeds with broods in, or a patch of brush for escape or loafing cover.

At the Francis Beidler Forest, we are focusing our northern bobwhite restoration efforts in The Bend, which is generally the land contained between I-26 and Four Holes Swamp where the swamp "bends" to the south on its run to the Edisto River. This area falls within South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Central Focal Region. We have begun identifying the types of land use within The Bend (yellow=residential; pink=agriculture; purple=loblolly pine stand; etc.) in order to see where restoration efforts should logically begin. The long-range plan is to create suitable habitat within The Bend or create corridors between suitable habitat which may already exists.

Land use map for The Bend - Map by Mark Musselman

In previous blog posts, we have described how we are restoring longleaf pine habitat, which will benefit northern bobwhites and other species. However, much of this habitat restoration occurs in areas inaccessible to the general public. Therefore, we have created several grassland and longleaf pine demonstration sites from old agricultural fields located along the road near the entrance to the Francis Beidler Forest. Here are blog posts detailing the grassland restoration and burning.

In April, various coreopsis species began flowering...

Longleaf pine/grassland at Cantley Rd. - Image by Mark Musselman

Coreopsis flowering - Image by Mark Musselman

 ...and by May the fields were full of flowers and the associated insect activity.

Grassland at end of driveway - Image by Mark Musselman

For the patient visitor, Painted Buntings, Blue Grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings and other bird species can be seen and heard in and around the grassland parcels. Two weeks ago, a visiting master naturalist group watched a Swallow-tailed Kite forage for, catch, and eat at least three large insects over the grassland parcel at the end of the driveway.

Last week, while checking on the longleaf pine planted in the field along Cantley Rd., a small group of flushed birds rose and dropped in short flight and ran about the fire break foraging like bobwhites. Could it be already?! Upon a closer look through squinted eyes, the "quail" turned out to be wild turkey chicks old enough for short flights. Scanning the higher vegetation in the grassland, the fleshy head of a hen strained tall to watch us. Eventually, the hen and 12 chicks moved across Cantley Rd. to one of the grassland parcels along Mims Rd.

Turkey hen and chicks - Image by Mark Musselman

Turkey chicks in flight - Image by Mark Musselman

In the following days, visitors and staff alike saw three hens with 20 chicks moving together between the various grassland parcels. As wild turkeys and northern bobwhite quails have similar habitat requirements, hopefully the quail are not far behind!

Warm Season Burn - Update

One month ago (see previous post), we attempted a warm season burn on 29 acres of old agricultural fields in which our planted longleaf pines were being crowded by other vegetation, mainly dog fennel. Last Thursday, we checked on the progress of the longleaf pines and grasses in the field where the burn was successful.

Grasses under dead dog fennel - Mark Musselman

In areas where the burning was complete, the dog fennel remains dead or absent and the grasses have pushed out new green blades.

With most of the vegetation burned away and the longleaf pine pushing out new needles of a brighter green than the grasses, the longleaf pines are more easily located than before the burn.

Longleaf pine growth after fire - Mark Musselman

Longleaf pine growth after fire - Mark Musselman

Longleaf pine growth after fire - Mark Musselman

Longleaf pine growth after fire - Mark Musselman

With the majority of the competition removed, especially the tall dog fennel, the young longleaf pine are in full sunlight and should grow rapidly over the coming months. By spring, many will have a root collar of one inch and will begin vertical growth leaving the grass stage behind. We look forward to the day when the longleaf pine stand taller than the neighboring grasses!

Warm Season Burn

In January 2015, University of Missouri students on their alternative winter break planted 29 acres of longleaf pine seedlings in old farm fields north of the nature center driveway. For South Carolinians, the weather was uncomfortably cold (50sF) and wet, but for the students it was a warm contrast to their campus.

University of Missouri students - Mark Musselman

 

 

Step #1 for planting longleaf pine: Using dibbles (orange tools), students would open a wedge-shaped hole in the earth, drop a longleaf pine seedling into the hole, and then used the dibble to close the hole around the seedling. To complete the job, repeat step #1 thousands of times.

 

 

 

University of Missouri students planting longleaf - Mark Musselman

University of Missouri students planting longleaf - Mark Musselman

University of Missouri students planting longleaf - Mark Musselman

As our volunteer workforce was with us in January, we did not have the luxury of applying herbicide to the spring vegetation when it emerged and then repeating the herbicide treatment in the fall for the later emerging vegetation. Therefore, we had plenty of pioneering plants become established during the intervening year. Dog fennel (Eupatorium capillifolium) was the most prolific.

Dog fennel in longleaf pine tract - Mark Musselman

The dog fennel made it difficult for us to move through the tract. However, rabbits, rodents, and a wide-variety of birds--including wild turkey, painted bunting, blue grosbeak, summer tanager, indigo bunting, Mississippi kites, and swallow-tailed kites--found ample forage and shelter within and above the fennel thicket.

Dog fennel in longleaf pine tract - Mark Musselman

A longleaf pine is practically hidden in grasses and dog fennel (above the red line in the image below). Though the dog fennel seemed to form a thicket dense enough to block sunlight from reaching the ground, sufficient light reached the seedling longleaf pines to allow them to survive. However, to grow out of the grass stage, the longleaf pines would need more direct sunlight. Bring on the fire!

Longleaf pine hidden in vegetation - Mark Musselman

Our opportunity to light a prescribed fire came when a cold front dipped down from the northeast a week ago. If you were in the area, you will certainly remember the severe thunderstorms that accompanied that cold front, including tornadoes to our north. Cold, in this case, was relative. The high temperature two days after the storm was only to reach 83F and winds were forecast to be 15 mph from the northeast.

This week's fire was the first for this longleaf pine stand. The six prescribed fire volunteers arrived on schedule, but the winds did not. After several failed attempts to ignite the smaller of the two longleaf pine fields, we moved to the larger, less sheltered field where even a slight wind might have a chance to push fire through the dog fennel and grasses.

In some areas, the fire was 100% effective in consuming the fuels at ground level, killing loblolly pine and sweet gum seedlings, and wilting or consuming dog fennel.

100% fuel burned - Mark Musselman

60% fuel burned - Mark Musselman

60% fuel burned - Mark Musselman

Overall, approximately 60% of the field burned leaving refugia (unburned green areas) for wildlife to use until new vegetation emerges.

Longleaf pine in unburned area - Mark Musselman

Grasses began showing new growth after only two days. New vegetative growth is more palatable to wildlife, which is yet another reason for periodic fire. Additionally, after a fire, many plants will germinate and/or produce seeds or fruit desirable to wildlife.

Grasses new growth - Mark Musselman

Although uneven burning of a tract is beneficial, as it provides refugia for wildlife and fails to consume all of the woody material in more mature stands, it is not planned. Terrain, wetlands, fuel loads, and wind are some of the factors that dictate where and how a fire will burn. In the image below, there was plenty of suitable fuel for the fire to continue on its path. However, the wind died and the fire could not span the gaps between clumps of grass without a slight push from the wind. (Note the spacing between grasses in the "100% fuel burned" image earlier on this page.)

Burned/unburned boundary - Mark Musselman

Some areas burned hot enough to consume the grasses and wilt the dog fennel, but left longleaf pines green and unaffected.

Longleaf pine - Mark Musselman

Some areas burned hot enough brown the needles of the longleaf pines. Closer inspection at the needle bases reveals that they are green, having successfully insulated the terminal bud of the tree.

Brown needles of longleaf pine - Mark Musselman

Green at base of needles - Mark Musselman

Areas at the boundary of the fire provided a combination of heat, but still exposed the longleaf pine to increased sunlight.

Partially scorched longleaf pine - Mark Musselman

Some areas burned hot enough to consume the longleaf pine needles. The future of the longleaf pine shown in the image below is uncertain. In the grass stage, longleaf pines are close to indestructible. The tap root the longleaf pine has sent into the ground may be sufficient to allow new needles to grow. With the neighboring vegetation eliminated, the longleaf pine may thrive in the abundant sunlight and begin rapidly increasing its height above the ground. Conversely, the tree may have been cooked and become part of the anticipated loss within the planted stand.

Longleaf pine - Mark Musselman

A mature longleaf pine stand has been described as a prairie with some trees. There should be an abundance of space and light between the longleaf pine trees. Therefore, we always plant more trees than we intend to see reach maturity. Mortality begins a planting. Some seedlings are not physically fit or are improperly placed in the ground. Weather (drought, hurricanes, lightning, ice storms), insects, wild hogs, fire, competing vegetation are but a few of the factors that affect longleaf pine survival. However, more than enough of the well-adapted trees become large enough to elude the previously listed threats and we have to selectively cull less desirable trees (crooked growing, weather damaged, multiple trunks, etc.) to create the open stand we seek.

This longleaf pine stand is scheduled to be burned again in fall of 2017. What is certain is that the stand will look different in a year and the fire will be unlike the one we conducted this week.

Longleaf Pine Restoration

On January 14, 2014, staff and volunteers from the the Audubon Center at the Francis Beidler Forest planted longleaf pine seedlings on approximately five acres of land previously growing loblolly pine.  This small planting was a part of a larger project funded by a grant from the Alcoa Foundation and American Forests Global ReLeaf Partnership for Trees, in which approximately 65 acres was converted from loblolly pine to longleaf pine.  Currently, nearly 200 acres of the Francis Beidler Forest is longleaf pine.

In previous blog entries, we have described why we wish to restore the native longleaf pine forest ecosystem and how we manage those longleaf pine stands.

The longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystem is unique. The longleaf pine is a hardy species resistant to wind, insects, disease and fire, which can subdue its frequently-seen cousins the Loblolly and Slash Pines. The longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystem developed with fire and it remains healthy as long as it periodically burns. Historically, these fires would have been caused naturally by lightning and allowed to burn slowly through the forest. The result would have been the near elimination of leaf litter and debris and the competition from hardwood tree species. Additionally, longleaf pine seeds fare better on exposed mineral soil, so the next generation of longleaf pines gets its start after a fire clears the forest floor.

The longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystem is greatly diminished throughout the Southeast and the total acreage continues to decline. Previously, over 90 million acres supported the unique longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystem, while only two million acres remain today. Some reasons for this decline include the suppression of fires, intense logging, a switch to faster growing pines, and the clearing of land for agriculture and development. Not only is the total longleaf pine/wiregrass acreage declining, over 30 species of plant and animals that are associated with that ecosystem are currently listed as threatened or endangered, including the Red-cockaded Woodpecker!

After the logging of the loblolly pines, the site had some remaining debris and emergent hardwood trees killed with herbicide.

Site before burning - Mark Musselman

The site was burned in December to remove debris and competition prior to planting the longleaf pine seedlings.

Site after burning - Mark Musselman

The longleaf pine seedlings, grown in containers at a nursery, arrived packed in moisture-conserving boxes.

Collis Boyd, longleaf and equipment - Mark Musselman

Buckets were used to carry the longleaf pine seedlings into the site.

Dibbles, orange metal tool, were used to open a wedge-shaped cavity in the soil in which to place the seedling. Once the seedling was in the ground, the dibble was placed in the soil behind the seedling and the soil between the dibble and seedling was compressed to seal the seedling in the soil.

Planting seedling - Mark Musselman

Planting seedling - Mark Musselman

 Occasionally, an extra step on the soil was needed to ensure a complete seal within the soil.

Planting seedling - Mark Musselman

 Only the western portion of the site remained to be planted...

Planting seedlings - Mark Musselman

 ...and the light rain made the day more interesting.

Planting seedlings - Mark Musselman

Planting seedlings - Mark Musselman

Louisiana Marsh

We spent last week visiting Audubon's Rainey Wildlife Sanctuary, which encompasses over 20,000 acres of freshwater marsh in south Louisiana, with a side trip to Avery Island, home of Tabasco and a salt dome. We were there to see work being done to preserve the marsh, which is disappearing at an alarming rate.

Canals dug for navigation and oil/gas exploration can be seen clearly in the satellite images of the Louisiana coast. These avenues allow saltwater to reach more deeply into the freshwater marsh. Additionally, these canals allow the tides to move in and out more quickly. Recent hurricanes have rolled sections of the marsh like a rug, which has left open water in the middle of once solid blocks of marsh. Once open water appears, wind can create wave action that further erodes the marsh and enlarges the open area.

The canals are not likely to disappear, but erosion control along the sides, reduced speeds for boat traffic, and levee maintenance can mitigate damage to the marsh. However, there is something that can be done to reduce the erosion to and possibly establish marsh in areas that have opened. The parallel and herringbone-pattern features shown in the satellite image were created from sediments at the bottom of the "lakes" and oriented to slow winds from the southeast. By slowing the wind, erosion has been reduced, turbidity in the water has been reduced, and underwater aquatic vegetation has increased.

Although the Rainey Sanctuary is not as affected, other areas of the Louisiana coast have suffered as water and, more importantly, sediment have been diverted from the marsh. Sediments brought down the Mississippi River that once renourished the marsh, now create a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico.

For now, the marsh continues to be incredibly productive. Red-shouldered Hawks were posted along the canal at 100-yard intervals; Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, and Black-necked Stilts waded in the shallow water; Snow Geese flew overhead like noisy clouds; ducks of every sort occupied the marsh and erupted like locust swarms whenever a potential predator cruised overhead; deer, opossum, raccoons and nutria appeared for the mammals; a lone alligator braved the cool weather to sun on the canal bank and represent the reptiles; and catfish caught fresh upon our arrival provided us dinner.

We do not always appreciate what we have when we have it. Hopefully, that is not the case with the Louisiana marsh!

Images by Mark Musselman