Collaborative Research: An Experimental Study of Fire Ecology in Relation to the Red-Cockaded Woodpecker: Linkages Among Population, Community, and Ecosystem Processes

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The objective of the proposed research is to develop a new approach to basic research in conservation biology--Species-Centered Environmental Analysis--and to apply it to an extensive study of the population dynamics of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker in relation to its environment. The USDA Forest service has agreed to conduct an experimental 5-year prescribed-burning program in the longleaf pine forests of the Apalachicola National Forest in Florida in 60 management compartments where we will be able to monitor the birds and the ground cover vegetation. In a subset of 24 compartments, we will monitor the arthropod fauna of the pine trees and the movement of nutrients through the system. In 12 of the 24 compartments we will conduct a nutrient enrichment experiment in which treatments will include supplemental calcium with and without supplemental phosphorus and nitrogen. The major questions being asked are (1) Is the movement of nutrients through this ecosystem affected by the season and frequency of prescribed fire; and (2) Does this movement affect the nutritional quality of arboreal arthropods, the main diet of the woodpeckers. This project is an example of ecosystem management--the experimental application of management alternatives that allows the results of basic research in population and ecosystem ecology to be used to select among future management options.