Breeding Bird Use of Hybrid Poplar Plantations in Minnesota

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Breeding Bird Use of Hybrid Poplar Plantations in
Minnesota

• JoAnn Hanowski
• Natural Resources Research Institute
• University of Minnesota-Duluth

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Presentation Outline

• What are the pressing issues with wildlife
  (specifically breeding birds)?
• What studies have we completed to address/answer
  questions/concerns?
• What recommendations do we have for future hybrid
  poplar plantations?

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Study Sites

• Large plantations located in western and
  southwestern MN
• Eleven plantations have been surveyed
• Oldest plantation is 11 years (in 2001)

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Bird sampling method
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Habitat

• What species respond positively to presence of
  plantation habitat?
• What species are replaced when existing land-use
  is converted to plantation?
• How can we increase plantation diversity?

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Community response

• Total number of individuals increase as
  plantations age
• Species richness does not change much, usually 4
  to 6 species

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Habitat guild response

• Composition of bird community changes as
  plantations age
• Young plantations have species associated with
  open and shrub habitats
• Number of forest dwelling individuals increases
  with age

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Species response

• Species that colonize plantations are generally
  found in adjacent habitats
• Young plantations have lots of sparrows and
  blackbirds
• Beginning to see vireos and warblers in older
  plantations and some permanent residents

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Bird species replaced

• Dependent upon habitat
• Replacement of cropland least amount of impact
• Replacement with good CRP most impact

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Pheasants Forever?

• Initial concern that pheasants would be
  negatively impacted
• We observed pheasants in summer and winter
• Likely not affected unless large percentage of
  area is in plantation

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Landscape Context

• Species that colonize plantations are dependent
  upon landscape context
• Plantations in a predominantly agricultural
  landscape are colonized by mostly open country
  and shrub bird species
• Plantations in forest landscapes are colonized
  earlier by forest birds

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Negative landscape effects
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Habitat quality

• Longevity of habitat
• Community turnover
• Productivity

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Are plantations attractive hazards?

• Open tree architecture, lack of understory and
  ground cover may result in increase predation of
  bird nests and increased parasitism rates by
  Brown-headed Cowbirds

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Artificial nest studies

• Results indicated that predation rates were
  independent of habitat type and distance from
  plantation edge
• Predation rates were high on some sites, likely
  due to local predator populations

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Community Turnover
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What to avoid

• Replacement of good CRP habitat and highly
  erodible sites
• Fragmentation of open habitats especially in
  areas with sharp-tailed grouse and prairie
  chickens
• Large areas of single-aged plantations

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Future study needs

• Synthesize environmental data (physical,
  biological)
• Identify gaps in knowledge
• Develop predictive site and landscape planning
  tools
• Tools should allow landowners/planners to develop
  what-if scenarios that assess environmental
  conditions