The Relationship Of Understory Vegetation To Red-Cockaded Woodpecker Activity.
The relationship between understory vegetation and actual and potential redcockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) cavities was measured in the North Carolina Sandhills. Understory measurements were made in a 0.01 ha circular quadrat around each of 60 red-cockaded woodpecker cavity trees and 60 randomly selected potential cavity trees. The height, basal area, species, and quarter number of each understory stem were recorded. Red-cockaded woodpeckers on our areas preferred excavating cavities in trees around which there were significantly fewer woody stems and a lower understory basal area...
