Skip to Main Content
U.S. Forest Service
Caring for the land and serving people

United States Department of Agriculture

Home > Search > Publication Information

  1. Relationship of coarse woody debris to arthropod availability for red-cockaded woodpeckers and other bark-foraging birds on loblolly pine boles

    Share via EmailShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInShare on Twitter
    Dislike this pubLike this pub
    Author(s): Scott Horn; James L. Hanula
    Date: 2008
    Source: J. Entomol. Sci., Vol. 43(2): 153-168
    Publication Series: Scientific Journal (JRNL)
    PDF: Download Publication  (1.68 MB)

    Description

    This study determined if short-term removal of coarse woody debris would reduce prey available to red-cockaded woodpeckers (Picoides borealis Vieillot) and other bark-foraging 1 birds at the Savannah River Site in Aiken and Barnwell counties, SC. All coarse woody debris was removed from four 9-ha plots of mature loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) in 1997 and again in 1998. We sampled arthropods in coarse woody debris removal and control stands using crawl traps that captured arthropods crawling up tree boles, burlap bands wrapped around trees, and cardboard panels placed on the ground. We captured 27 orders and 172 families of arthropods in crawl traps whereas 20 arthropod orders were observed under burlap bands and cardboard panels. The most abundant insects collected from crawl traps were aphids (Homoptera: Aphididae) and ants (Hymenoptera: Forrnicidae). The greatest biomass was in the wood cockroaches (Blattaria: Blattellidae), caterpillars (Lepidoptera) in the Family Noctuidae, and adult weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). The most common group observed underneath cardboard panels was lsoptera (termites), and the most common taxon under burlap bands was wood cockroaches. Overall, arthropod abundance and biomass captured in crawl traps was similar in control and removal plots. In contrast, we observed more arthropods under burlap bands (mean & SE; 3,021.5 k 348.6, P= 0.03) and cardboard panels (3,537.25 k 432.4, P= 0.04) in plots with coarse woody debris compared with burlap bands (2325 + 171.3) and cardboard panels (2439.75 + 288.9) in plots where coarse woody debris was removed. Regression analyses showed that abundance beneath cardboard panels was positively correlated with abundance beneath burlap bands demonstrating the link between abundance on the ground with that on trees. Our results demonstrate that short-term removal of coarse woody debris from pine forests reduced overall arthropod availability to bark-foraging birds.

    Publication Notes

    • You may send email to pubrequest@fs.fed.us to request a hard copy of this publication.
    • (Please specify exactly which publication you are requesting and your mailing address.)
    • We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
    • This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.

    Citation

    Horn, Scott; Hanula, James L. 2008. Relationship of coarse woody debris to arthropod availability for red-cockaded woodpeckers and other bark-foraging birds on loblolly pine boles. J. Entomol. Sci., Vol. 43(2): 153-168

    Related Search

    XML: View XML
Show More
Show Fewer
Jump to Top of Page
https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/30544