Establishing an Open Pine Definition for Landbird Planning in the WGCP/O

Bird Conservation Region

The West Gulf Coastal Plain/Ouachitas Landbird Working Group (Working Group) at their September 9-10, 2009 Workshop in Minden, LA, expressed the need to explicitly define “Open Pine Habitat” as regards priority bird species planning. Specifically, the Working Group discussed distinctions among “Savanna”, “Woodland”, and “Forest” habitat, to more precisely assign associations between certain bird species and important habitat types covered in the Joint Venture’s planning process, and to aid in future habitat monitoring and tracking. The information summarized below was assembled to facilitate discussion and final decision-making by the Working Group.

The “Suggested” Open Pine definition in the table above isincluded to facilitate further discussion. This definitionis based on the following premises:

(1) “Open Pine” includes both “savanna” and “woodland” habitat types;

(2) The distinction between “Open Pine” and “Forest” is consistent (+5%) with the existing definitions provided here;

(3) The range (10-60%) of canopy cover included in the definition of “Open Pine” encompasses the range of high-quality habitat for the two priority species for which canopy cover is included in HSI models;

(4) The Draft PIF Landbird Plan for the WGCP/O defines “Pine” systems as being composed of greater than 80% pine;

(5) The purpose here is not to map Open Pine, but to establish a common understanding of the habitat type. Hence, canopy conditions in this definition apply to a relatively mature stand – our “desired condition”.

Working Group members are encouraged to review this information in light of other potential sourceswith which they (or their co-workers) may be more familiar, such as State Wildlife Action Plans, Forest Plans, Technical Guidance Documents, etc., and provide feedback.
Appendix – Forest Definition Information and References

Revised Land Resource Management Plan - OuachitaNational Forest

–Woodland – an open stand of trees with crowns not usually touching (generally forming a 25 to 60 percent cover).

–Forest – an area of trees with overlapping crowns.

–Desired Conditions for SLP-Bluestem Management Area – 60-80 ft2/ac basal area; 20% hardwood, in hardwood dominated areas

Revised Land Resource Management Plan - National Forests Grasslands in Texas

–Stands approaching age for RCWO nesting habitat (70-100 years) – 60-80 basal area (p.121)

Landers & Boyer 1999 (GTR)

–“Standard Terminology” as per Ford-Robertson & Winters (1983)

“A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a more of less dense and extensive tree cover; a woodland is a plant community in which trees are present but form an open canopy with intervening areas occupied by lower vegetation, commonly grasses; and a savanna (tree savanna) is generally a grassland with a scattering of trees and shrubs. The definitions are based on general appearance of the land rather than on numbers of trees or tree basal area per unit of area.”

NatureServe Explorer Glossary

–Savanna: Mosaic of trees or shrubs and grassland; between 40% and 10% cover by trees and shrubs.

–Woodland: Open stands of trees at least 6 m tall, with crowns often not interlocking; tree canopy discontinuous (often clumped), averaging between two-thirds and 40% overall cover (at 40% the average diameter of a tree crown equals the average distance between crowns); shrub layer often poorly developed or present only in gaps in the canopy. Forest edge species (i.e., those dependent on a break in the canopy rather than on forest per se) are included in this category.

Grossman et al. (1988) (p. 107)

–Forest – Trees with their crowns overlapping (generally forming 60-100% cover)

–Woodland – Open stands of trees with crowns not usually touching (generally forming 25-60% cover). Canopy tree cover may be less than 25% in cases where it exceeds shrub, dwarf-shrub, herb, and nonvascular cover, respectively.

Literature Cited

Ford-Robertson, F.C., and R.K. Winters. 1983. Terminology of forest science technology practice and products. English version. Authorized by Joint FAO/IUFRO Comm. For. Bibliogr. Terminol., Soc. Am. For., Washington. 370 p.

Grossman, D.H., D. Faber-Langendoen, A.S. Weakley, M. Anderson, P. Bourgeron, R. Crawford, K. goodin, S. Landaal, K. Mezler, K.D. Patterson, M. Pyne, M. Reid, and L. Sneddon. 1998. International Classification of ecological communities: terrestrial vegetation of the United States. Volume I. The National Vegetation Classification System: development, status, and applications. The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, Virginia, USA.

Landers, J. L., and W.D. Boyer. 1999. An old-growth definition for upland longleaf and south Florida slash pine forests, woodlands, and savannas. Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-29. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 15 p.