Alan Haney

ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT FOR SOUND ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT

Sound ecosystem management meshes socioeconomic attitudes and values with sustainable natural resource practices. Adaptive management is a model for guiding natural resource managers in this process. Ecosystems and the societies that use them are continually evolving. Therefore, managers must be flexible and adaptable in the face of uncertainty and lack of knowledge. To couple good science to management, it is important to develop goals, models, and hypotheses that allow us to systematically learn as we manage. Goals and models guide the development and implementation of management practices. The need to evaluate models and test hypotheses mandates monitoring, which feeds into a continuous cycle of goal and model reformulation. This paper reviews the process of adaptive management and describes how it is being applied to oak/pine savanna restoration at Necedah National Wildlife Refuge as an illustration. Our aim is to help managers design their own adaptive management models for successful ecosystem management.

Bird Populations before and after Wildfire in a Great Lakes Pine Forest

-Birds in a 6.25-ha quadrat in a 73-year-old jack pine-black spruce forest (Pinus banksiana-Picea mariana) in Cook Co., Minnesota were intensively studied in June 1976. A wildfire burned through the area in August. The following spring we resurveyed the same quadrat to determine the first-year changes in bird populations. Species and guilds were compared by density, territorial space, existence energy, and importance values. Twelve species had territories in the study grid before the fire; six were not there the following spring, but eight additional species had established territories. Tree-foliage searchers had the greatest importance value before the fire and ground-brush foragers the greatest value afterwards. Density, total biomass, and combined existence energy of birds decreased after the fire by 50, 23, and 41%, respectively, but species using the area after the fire were 63% heavier on the average. Average energy consumption per unit of body weight was calculated to be 23% less after the fire. Fire apparently reduced the total food available for birds, but increased the kinds of food, especially at or near

Restoration of Midwest Oak Barrens: Structural Manipulation or Process-only?

We investigated vegetation responses in terms of canopy, ground-layer diversity, and ecological species groups using two restoration treatments at two degraded oak barren and savanna sites in central Wisconsin, USA. The two restoration models tested were (1) process-only, which reintroduced fire in the form of prescribed burning, and (2) structural manipulation, which used prescribed burning following selective timber removal. Both methods have been widely promoted, debated, and investigated in the fire-prone ecosystems of western North America, but they have not been studied in midwestern ecosystems. Vegetation was monitored in permanent quadrats prior to and following treatment applications. All treatment responses were compared against trends at control sites. We used diversity, canopy, and cover estimates within ecological groups between pre- and post-treatment periods as our response. Effect size was calculated, and the statistical significance of effects was determined using one-factor analysis of variance. Following treatments, canopy levels were restored to prior savanna levels with structural manipulation, but failed to respond to process-only approaches. Likewise, multiple positive responses were detected in the ground layer with structural manipulation, but few with process-only treatments. Despite initial responses, ground-layer restoration appears to be constrained by the dominance of Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica). Many savanna forbs, legumes, and C4 graminoids were missing. We presume that 70 yr of fire suppression and associated succession to oak woodlands were largely responsible for sedge conversion and the loss of savanna species. Despite observed limitations, structural manipulation treatments appeared to be more effective than process-only approaches. Sites with holdover savanna species that have not been dominated by sedge should be targeted for immediate restoration before further losses occur. Further investigation of sedge mat thresholds and long-term restoration dynamics is required.

Thirty Years of Post-fire Succession in a Southern Boreal Forest Bird Community

ABSTRACT Birds and vegetation were surveyed in a 9 ha plot in spring 1976 in a 73 y-old jack pine (Pinus banksiana) – black spruce (Picea mariana) forest in northeastern Minnesota. A 1368 ha wildfire burned across the area that autumn. The plot was resurveyed in 1977 and periodically through 2006. Before the fire, birds with the highest importance values were Blackburnian Warbler (Dendroica fusca), Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus), Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) and Bay-breasted Warbler (D. castanea). Within 7 y following the fire, canopy tree cover decreased to near zero as fire-damaged trees died. Afterwards, the canopy began increasing, reaching 53% cover by 30 y. Shrub cover, 8% before the fire, peaked at over 70% two decades after fire, primarily as a result of dense jack pine and black spruce regeneration, and then decreased to 58% 30 y after fire. The total number of bird species using the area doubled the first year following the fire while the number of bird species with discernable territories decreased 40%. Thereafter, territorial species began increasing and 30 y after the fire the number exceeded the pre-fire richness by 60%. Overall, density of bird territories decreased nearly three-fold the first 3 y after the fire, but by year 30, was over 56% greater than in the pre-burn mature pine forest. Loss of canopy was related to a reduction in warbler and vireo diversity while increases in woody debris and near-ground vegetation were related to an increase in ground-brush foragers such as White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) and Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina). Brown Creeper (Certhia americana) populations increased briefly as trees died, and for five years following fire there was an increase in woodpeckers and secondary cavity nesting species. At 7 to 10 y after fire, White-throated Sparrow, Magnolia Warbler (Dendroica magnolia), Chestnut-sided Warbler (D. pensylvanica), Nashville Warbler (Vermivora ruficapilla) and Mourning Warbler (Oporornis philadelphia) dominated. White-throated Sparrow continued to be the most important bird species through the first two decades, followed by Magnolia Warbler and Red-eyed Vireo. Thirty years after fire, the dominant birds were Nashville Warbler and Ovenbird, followed distantly by Veery (Catharus fuscescens) Swainsons Thrush (Catharus ustulatus), Least Flycatcher (Empidonax minimus) and Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia). Overall, bird species using the area after 30 y remained over 70% higher than in the mature forest before the fire.

Bird Communities after Blowdown in a Late-Successional Great Lakes Spruce-Fir Forest

Abstract In 2001 and 2002, we inventoried the bird communities and vegetation of two 6.25-ha plots in a late-successional spruce-fir (Picea mariana–Abies balsamea) forest of northern Minnesota that was severely disturbed by a 1999 windstorm. We compared these results with those from two nearby plots that were largely unaffected by the storm. Using vegetation data collected from one of the two plots in each location before the disturbance in 1996 and 1998, we examined similarities between plots before and after the storm. The most significant effect of the storm on vegetation was a ≥80% decrease in tree cover and a >100% increase in shrub-layer structure because of trees that were tipped over or snapped off. Of 30 territorial bird species, 9 held territories exclusively in the blowdown, while 2 held territories exclusively in the control. By foraging guild, 10 of 11 (91%) species of ground-brush foragers had more territory cover in the blowdown, while 7 of 13 (54%) species of tree-foliage searchers had more territory cover in the control. Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia), Chestnut-sided Warbler (Dendroica pensylvanica), Mourning Warbler (Oporornis philadelphia), Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (Empidonax flaviventris), and Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) had significantly (P < 0.05) more territory cover in the blowdown, whereas Blackburnian Warbler (Dendroica fusca), Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa), and Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata) had more territory cover in the control. Canonical correspondence analysis revealed that differences in avian territory cover were primarily attributable to changes in vegetation structure, in particular the increase of structural debris on the ground and the reduction in tree canopy, occurring because of the wind.

Implement the Plan

A few additional things need to be done before actually starting work on the land. This includes a review of any regulatory requirements that, if ignored, could result in costly delays and penalties. You also need to develop a phasing plan for the work, then reconsider and refine your budget with estimates for each phase (see fig. 7.1). A phasing plan divides the project into subprojects that efficiently structure the implementation. Finalizing plans may also involve procuring plants and seed or other supplies and equipment. These should be grouped to receive the best prices, and according to when they are needed in the project. Once this is done, you can prepare your implementation schedule for the first five years, during what we have called the remedial restoration phase.

Develop a Good Monitoring Program

Monitoring and good records are key to knowing how restoration treatments are altering the ecosystem and understanding the changes. The more complex the system, or the more carefully you wish to manage it, the more elaborate monitoring and records must be. Pilots are taught to take monitoring very seriously and keep careful records; dozens of conditions are continually monitored on a large plane. It is no less essential to monitor ecosystems. Although ecosystems are infinitely more complex than a commercial airliner, monitoring and good records are often ignored, or taken too casually. Here we provide guidelines, sources of information, and forms to assist in monitoring.

Old-Growth Southern Boreal Forest Stability and Response to a Stand-Replacing Wildfire

ABSTRACT: Half of a 400-year-old forest in northeastern Minnesota, USA, burned in autumn 2006 providing a unique opportunity to examine stability and response to stand-replacing fire in a region where the historic mean fire return interval was about 100 y. We installed 18 permanent 50-m transects in 1977 and 18 more in 1997. In 2008, 18 additional transects were surveyed along with the initial transects; half were in the burned portion of the forest and half remained unburned. In 2010 and 2014, all transects were again inventoried. Before the fire, eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), historically the dominant tree, represented less than 4% of the canopy in which northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis), balsam fir (Abies balsamea), and paper birch (Betula papyrifera) had become dominants. In 37 y of observation, few significant changes occurred in the unburned forest. In the burned forest, however, the intense fire killed virtually all trees on the upland, and reduced tree cover from near 90% to just over 10%, with survival primarily in wet draws. There was no nearby seed source for jack pine (Pinus banksiana) or quaking (Populus tremuloides) or big-toothed (P. grandidentata) aspen, the most frequent post-fire pioneers. Seedlings of aspen and paper birch established dominance in the small-tree layer within eight years, and dense white cedar established in mesic microsites near surviving seed sources. Stand-level diversity of vegetation after the fire was about the same as before the fire, but primarily as a result of species that survived in wet draws. Raspberry (Rubus idaeus), fire-weed (Epilobium angustifolium), and several sedges (Carex spp.) became temporarily abundant, peaking six years after fire. There was no post-fire white pine regeneration. Results indicate that in the long-term absence of fire there was a gradual shift in canopy composition with relatively little corresponding change in the understory. Results also underscore the importance of microsites in buffering change and driving landscape scale diversity, and how a shift in fire regime can initiate a different successional trajectory.

Review the Project

We increase success in just about anything we do if we schedule regular reviews to adjust for any changed conditions and critically examine progress. When objective third parties can be included in the process, even more can be gained. Reviews should be open, candid, and honest. Good monitoring data and good records are a primary basis for good reviews.

Develop Goals and Objectives

To this point, we have focused on learning about the land. By following the process and tasks in the previous steps, you should have some detailed understanding of the land including the ecological health of the component ecosystems. What and where are the stressors, how have they acted to change the ecological health of the ecosystems, and what kind of restoration work is needed to move these systems back to a healthier condition? The depth of your understanding of the land should have been increased through review of reference areas, larger landscape-scale historic events, and refined through consideration of the agents of change.