Pineland Breeding-Bird Communities in BICY and EVER: Species Composition, Population Density, Causes of Declines and Extirpations, and Recommendations for Restoration

Meyer, Kenneth; Robertson, William

This is a proposed study to monitor endemic bird species to Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park. These birds are threatened because of rapid loss of pinelands in Florida, their habitat. The study's principal goal is to restore pineland avifauna in the Everglades.The project's specific objectives are: to assess the current status of the pineland avifaunas of BICY and EVER; to form a baseline of avian distribution, abundance, and species richness (community structure) for future monitoring; to determine the ecological and behavioral correlates of species abundance and richness; to identify the principal causes of recent declines and extirpations; to evaluate the effects of Hurricane Andrew; to develop techniques for translocations and reintroductions; and to provide management recommendations aimed at restoration and long-term protection. The study will encompass three nesting seasons (1993-1995), and will have two co-directors and two seasonal technicians (one each per park). The first-year budget Is $58,420; the total cost Is about 175,000. Field work will consist of fixed-radius point-count surveys, behavioral observations, and measurements of vegetation on a total of six pineland study plots (four in BICY, two in EVER) that represent a wide range of conditions (e.g., age, fire and logging history, plant associations, physical structure). Recent and historic data on logging, fire, and hydrology of the study plots, and estimates of current distribution and status of pineland species north of BICY and EVER, will be taken from previous studies and reviews. The emphasis during the first year will be on establishing and surveying the plots and standardizing the vegetation and behavioral sampling methods. Surveys will be run in all three years; vegetation and behavioral data will be collected and reintroduction methods developed and tested mainly during the second and third years.The survey data will permit assessment of current status and distribution, abundance, and richness in the different types of pine forest; statistical comparisons among the plots will reveal differences in community structure and specify the probability of occurrence for individual species. Behavioral and nesting success data will quantify differences in competition for food and nest sites on the various plots and identify factors that limit pineland endemics (the project could be expanded with external funding to include a graduate student to test behavioral hypotheses). Species abundance, richness, and nesting success will be analyzed with regard to vegetation features measured with point-sampling methods on the bird survey plots.Vegetation correlates of high abundance, richness, and nesting success will be used to determine habitat suitability of potential reintroduction sites in BICY and EVER. Specific methods will be tested by translocating birds to occupied range within BICY and by introducing birds from outside to unoccupied range within the Preserve. These experiments will involve bluebirds, nuthatches, kestrels, and Hairy Woodpeckers.The study's principal goal, restoring EVER's pineland avifauna, has become even more important as a result of the damage inflicted by Hurricane Andrew. Fortunately, most of the pinelands in BICY, with their variations in structure and bird communities, remain as an excellent source of comparative and predictive data for achieving this restoration. It is reasonable to expect that the proposed study can develop the means to restore the deteriorating pineland bird community in BICY and EVER. The NPS, however, cannot manage its extant or restored pineland avifauna as if protective boundaries will assure longevity. If this and similarly rare communities are to survive in southern Florida's parks, the NPS will have to influence land-use practices and planning on a regional scale. The recommendations provided by the proposed study will serve as a model for ways in which the NPS can promote this process