Abstracts Biological Sciences

Influence of landscape- and stand-scale factors on avian communities in open pine ecosystems

by Taylor Idora Hannah

Identifying species occurrence in ecosystems of high conservation concern is especially important in the context of modern landscapes. This study investigated how stand-scale and landscape-scale factors affect priority birds associated with longleaf pine (<I>Pinus palutris</I>) ecosystems. Herein, I compared priority bird occupancy among 12 stand types throughout the historic range of longleaf pine. I found open pine stands positively influenced red-cockaded woodpecker (<I>Picoides borealis</I>) and Bachmans sparrow <I>(Peucaea aestivalis</I>) occupancy, but were not significantly linked to northern bobwhite (<I>Colinus virginianus</I>) and brown-headed nuthatch (<I>Sitta pusilla</I>) occurrence. Landscape- and stand-scale factors affected red-cockaded woodpecker, Bachmans sparrow, and brown-headed nuthatch occupancy. Northern bobwhite occupancy was influenced solely by landscape-scale factors. Red-cockaded woodpecker and Bachmans sparrow were positively influenced by metrics associated with longleaf pine ecosystems suggesting they are effective indicator species. My analysis indicates that using this multi-scale approach is valuable to identifying areas on the landscape of conservation and restoration priority. Advisors/Committee Members: Scott A. Rush (chair), John M. Tirpak (committee member), David L. Evans (committee member).