8S 



Binis — Our Li\iiif; Resources 



Recent Developments and the 

 Future 



The Red-Lockaded Woodpecker Recovery 

 Plan (USFWS 1985) specifies that rangewide 

 recovery will he achieved when 15 viable popu- 

 lations are established and protected by ade- 

 quate habitat management programs. The recov- 

 ery populations are to be distributed across the 

 major physiographic provinces and within the 

 major forest types that can be managed to sus- 

 tain viable populations. Each recovery popula- 

 tion will likely require 400 breeding pairs (or 

 500 active clusters, as some clusters are occu- 

 pied by single birds or contain nonbreeding 

 groups) to ensure long-term population viability 

 ^Reed et al. 1993: Stevens, in press). At a densi- 

 ty of 1 group/80-120 ha (200-300 acres; 

 USFWS 1985; USPS 1993), landscapes of at 

 least 40,000 ha (100,000 acres) will be needed 

 to support viable populations. Most forested 

 pine areas large enough to supply this habitat are 

 on public, mostly federal, lands. 



With two exceptions (Hooper et al. 1991; 

 USPS, Apalachicola National Forest, PL, 

 unpublished data), there is no evidence that red- 

 cockaded wiKidpecker populations can expand 

 to viable levels without considerable human 

 intervention. Conversely, numerous population 

 extirpations have been documented (Baker 

 1983; Costa and Escano 1989; Cox and Baker, 

 in press). Ensuring the survival of the species, 

 even in the short term (50 years), will require 

 landscape-scale habitat and population manage- 

 ment to provide the forest structure and compo- 

 sition needed for nesting and foraging habitat 

 and population expansion; and to manage limit- 

 ing factors (primarily a lack of suitable cavity 

 trees, cavity competition, and demographic iso- 

 lation) that can extiipate small populations. Both 

 strategies are part of management guidelines 

 drafted by several federal land stewards (USPS 

 1993; U.S. Army 1994; USFWS 1994). 



These ecosystem management plans promote 

 practices that minimize landscape fragmenta- 

 tion, retain suitable numbers of potential cavity 

 trees well distributed throughout the landscape, 

 and restore the original forest cover by planting 

 the appropriate pine species. They recommend 

 the use of growing-season fires to control hard- 

 woods, create open forest conditions, and begin 

 to restore the understory plant communities of 

 the pine ecosystems. Stabilization and growth of 

 small high-risk populations will be aided by cre- 

 ating artificial red-cockaded woodpecker cavi- 

 ties (Copeyon 1990) and translocating juvenile 

 birds from stable larger populations into small 

 ones (Rudolph et al. 1992). Technologies that 

 minimize or eliminate predation and competi- 

 Uon problems are available (Carter et al. 1989). 



During the past 4-7 years, several popula- 

 tions have stabilized or increased (Gaines et al., 

 in press; Richardson and Stockie, in press) as a 

 result of implementing conservation biology 

 principles — that is, integrating available tech- 

 nology with the species" life history and ecolog- 

 ical requirements. The limited number of juve- 

 nile birds, however, may hinder recovery 

 progress in all populations simultaneously. 



References 



Audubon. J.J. 1839. Ornithological biography. Vol, ^. A. 



and C. Black. Edinburgh. 

 Baker. WW. 1983. Decline and extirpation of a population 

 of red-cockaded woodpeckers in northwest Florida. Pages 

 44-45 in D.A. Wood., ed. Red-cockaded Woodpecker 

 Symposium II Proceedings. Florida Game and 

 Freshwater Fish Commission. Tallahassee. 

 Caller. J.H., 111. J.R. Walters. S.H. Everhart, and PD. Doerr. 

 1989 Restrictors for red-cockaded woodpecker cavities. 

 Wildlife Society Bull. 17:68-72. 

 Chapman. FM. 189.5. Handbook of birds of eastern North 



America. D. Appleton and Co.. New York. 431 pp. 

 Christensen, N.L. 1981. Fire regimes in southeastern ecosys- 

 tems. U.S. Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. WO-26: 112- 

 1.36. 

 Connor. R.N.. and DC. Rudolph. 1989. Red-cockaded 

 woodpecker colony status and trends on the Angelina. 

 Davy Crockett and Sabine National forests. U.S. Forest 

 Service. Southern Forest Experiment Station. Res. Paper 

 SO-250. 15 pp. 

 Connor. R.N., and D.C. Rudolph. 1991. Forest habitat loss, 

 fragmentation, and red-cockaded woodpecker popula- 

 tion. Wilson Bull. 1(13 (3): 446-457. 

 Copeyon. C.K. 1990. A technique for constructing cavities 

 for the red-cockaded woodpecker. Wildlife Society Bull. 

 18:303-311. 

 Costa. R.. and R.E. E.scano. 1989. Red-cockaded woodpeck- 

 er status and management in the Southern Region in 

 1986. U.S. Forest Service Southern Region Tech. Publ. 

 R8-TP 12.71 pp. 

 Cox. J., and WW. Baker In press. Distribution and status of 

 the red-cockaded woodpecker in Florida: 1992 update. 

 Red-cockaded Woodpecker Symposium HI: species 

 recovery, ecology and management. Stephen F. Austin 

 State University. Nacogdoches. TX. 

 Dawson. W.L.. and L. Jones. 1903. The birds of Ohio. Vol. 

 I. The Wheaton Publishing Co., Columbus, OH. 671 pp. 

 Gaines. G.D.. W.L. Jarvis. and K. Laves. In press. Red-cock- 

 aded woodpecker management on the Savannah River 

 Site: a management/research success story. Red-cockaded 

 Woodpecker Symposium HI: species recovery, ecology 

 and management. Stephen F Austin State University, 

 Nacogdoches. TX. 

 Gentry. T.G. 1877. Life-histories of birds of eastern 



Pennsylvania. Vol. 2. J.H. Choate. Salem. MA. 

 Hausman. L.A. 1928. Woodpeckers, nuthatches, and creep- 

 ers of New Jersey. New Jersey Agricultural Experiment 

 Station Bull. 470:'l -48. 

 Hooper. R.G., D.L. Krusac. and D.L. Carlson. 1991. An 

 increase in a population of red-cockaded woodpeckers. 

 Wildlife Society Bull. 19:277-286. 

 Hooper. R.G.. L.J. Niles. R.F Harlow, and G.W. Wood. 

 1982. Home ranges of red-cockaded woodpeckers in 

 coastal South Carolina. Auk 99{4):675-682. 

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 red-cockaded woodpecker: notes on life history and man- 

 agement. U.S. Forest Service. Southeastern Area. State 

 and Private Forestry, Gen. Rep. SA-GR 9. 8 pp. 

 Jack.son. J.A. 1971. The evolution, taxonomy, distribution, 

 past populations and current status of the red-cockaded 

 woodpecker. Pages 4-29 in R.L. Thompson, ed. The 



