Ecostudies Institute: Effects of Fuel Treatment on Landbirds

Current Research
Hindering development of a fire management strategy for the pine rocklands is the lack of knowledge
regarding the relationship between wildlife populations and fuel management practices designed to
reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire. Ecostudies Institute has recently received funding from the Joint
Fire Sciences Program to address this issue by implementing the first comprehensive study of the
ecological effects of fuels treatment in pine rocklands. Specific objectives of this study are to: 1)
determine the relationship between fire management activities and abundance and distribution of
breeding and wintering birds and their habitats; 2) determine the effects of different fuel treatments
(mechanical thinning, prescribed burning) on the abundance and distribution of breeding and wintering
landbirds; and 3) determine the role of fire on the abundance of snags, an important wildland fuel and
habitat for wildlife. Results from this study will provide science-based support to land managers in south
Florida who are developing fire management strategies aimed at reducing hazardous fuels while
maintaining the ecological integrity of this imperiled ecosystem. In addition, by involving collaborators
from multiple levels of government, this project will facilitate greater communication that is currently
lacking among federal, state, and local land management agencies regarding fire management practices.

Overview
Fire has shaped many south Florida ecosystems, yet perhaps
in no other ecosystem is fire as important as in the pine
rocklands. Pine rocklands are a globally imperiled ecosystem
composed of a unique combination of limestone substrate and
subtropical forest, and are found only in south Florida, the
Bahamas and Cuba. Never covering a large area, the pine
rockland ecosystem has been reduced in size due to
anthropogenic factors, namely urban and agricultural
development. Land protection alone will not ensure the
continued existence of this ecosystem, as most of the
remaining pine rocklands have been degraded by altered fire
and hydrological regimes. Changes in the frequency,
intensity, and extent of fire have had especially detrimental
effects on this ecosystem; in the absence of fire, pine forests
are gradually replaced by hardwood hammocks Preserving the
rich biological diversity contained within the remaining pine
rocklands of south Florida requires the development of
ecologically sound fire management practices that reduce the
risk of catastrophic wildfire while maintaining the biological
conditions upon which the plants and animals of this
ecosystem depend.

This project, which will continue through 2008, is being conducted in
Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida Panther
National Wildlife Refuge, and on lands administered by Miami-Dade County
Department of Parks and Recreation. Our project partners include the
National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Miami-Dade
County.