Winter Birds in a Developing Pine Plantation
Non-game Wildlife Outstanding Technical Paper
Winter resources may limit bird populations. In this study we document the winter bird community and assess habitat relationships in a single large loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) plantation (~500 ha) from shortly after establishment into the middle-age closed canopy stage at 16 years. The winter bird community changed as the plantation grass/forb/shrub community gave way to low shrubs, and again as low shrubs were dominated and mostly supplanted by the rapidly growing pine trees. The highest bird abundance (436/km2) and the most species (22) occurred the second year after planting (the first...
