Habitats of Special Concern
Beetle–infested forests
The idea –
Because Black-backed Woodpeckers appear to be relatively restricted to burned forest conditions, the question of whether any other vegetation condition might harbor equivalent numbers of birds is of special interest. There was an unpublished study from Idaho suggesting that beetle-kill areas might also serve as an important habitat for the Black-backed Woodpecker, so we designed a geographically stratified landbird survey in beetle infested areas on five National Forests in Region 1.
Methods –
We used information from the USFS Northern Region entomologists to locate forest stands that had significant beetle outbreaks in progress, and we conducted both standard point counts and playback surveys using broadcast callers to locate Black-backed Woodpeckers.
Results –
We found only a few Black-backed Woodpeckers in the beetle outbreak areas (all on the Nez Perce NF), and our detection rates paled in comparison to detection rates from within burned forests. We did detect plenty of Three-toed Woodpeckers and other interesting bird species, however! Therefore, we conclude that burned forests are one special condition that needs attention by land managers who wish to manage for the maintenance of populations of native bird species.
You can use our newly developed geospatial web interface to view the locations of all survey points associated with this project, to query any point to obtain information associated with that point, and to obtain summary graphs.
Annual Reports for this project–
Click to download the Beetle Outbreak Report.
Funder–
USDA Forest Service Northern Region