Since the early part of the 20th century, land managers have used prescribed fire during February and March to maintain and enhance habitat for northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) in southern pine forests. During the past 2 decades, some managers have started to shift their use of fire to mimic more  natural  lightning-season (April to August) ignitions because these fires encourage flowering of plants in intact native ground cover, and are potentially more effective at hardwood control than winter fires. Therefore, we designed a short-term pilot study to evaluate whether seasonal applications of prescribed fire had any effect on bobwhite brood habitat (as measured by vegetation composition and arthropod biomass) or bobwhite abundance (as measured by hunting success) during the subsequent fall. During the first two years of our study (1994 and 1995), results showed that arthropod biomass and bobwhite hunting success were slightly greater on the shooting course burned during lightning-season (May) than the one burned during February and March. These results indicate that applications of lightning-season fire can be used, at least on a small scale (i.e., management blocks \u3c250 ha) in southern pine forests for hardwood control, and possibly enhancement of native ground cover without short-term negative impacts on northern bobwhites

Brennan, Leonard A.

Fuller, R. Shane

Lee, Jeffrey M.

Staller, Eric L.

Wellendorf, Shane D.

English

University of Tennessee, Knoxville: Trace

National Quail Symposium Proceedings Volume 4 Article 12 2000 Effects of Seasonal Fire Applications on Northern Bobwhite Brood Habitat and Hunting Success Leonard A. Brennan Tall Timbers Research Station Jeffrey M. Lee Tall Timbers Research Station Eric L. Staller Tall Timbers Research Station Shane D. Wellendorf Tall Timbers Research Station R. Shane Fuller Tall Timbers Research Station Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/nqsp Recommended Citation Brennan, Leonard A.; Lee, Jeffrey M.; Staller, Eric L.; Wellendorf, Shane D.; and Fuller, R. Shane (2000) "Effects of Seasonal Fire Applications on Northern Bobwhite Brood Habitat and Hunting Success," National Quail Symposium Proceedings: Vol. 4 , Article 12. Available at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/nqsp/vol4/iss1/12 This Quail Population Responses to Habitat Management and Change is brought to you for free and open access by Volunteer, Open Access, Library Journals (VOL Journals), published in partnership with The University of Tennessee (UT) University Libraries. This article has been accepted for inclusion in National Quail Symposium Proceedings by an authorized editor. For more information, please visit https://trace.tennessee.edu/nqsp. EFFECTS OF SEASONAL FIRE APPLICATIONS ON NORTHERN BOBWHITE BROOD HABITAT AND HUNTING SUCCESS Leonard A. Brennan Tall Timbers Research Station, 13093 Henry Beadel Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32312-0918 Jeffrey M. Lee 1 Tall Timbers Research Station, 13093 Henry Beadel Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32312-0918 Eric L. Staller 2 Tall Timbers Research Station, 13093 Henry Beadel Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32312-0918 Shane D. Wellendorf Tall Timbers Research Station, 13093 Henry Beadel Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32312-0918 R. Shane Fuller 3 Tall Timbers Research Station, 13093 Henry Beadel Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32312-0918 ABSTRACT Since the early part of the 20th century, land managers have used prescribed fire during February and March to maintain and enhance habitat for northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) in southern pine forests. During the past 2 decades, some managers have started to shift their use of fire to mimic more "natural" lightning-season (April to August) ignitions because these fires encourage flowering of plants in intact native ground cover, and are potentially more effective at hardwood control than winter fires. Therefore, we designed a short-term pilot study to evaluate whether seasonal applications of prescribed fire had any effect on bobwhite brood habitat (as measured by vegetation composition and arthropod biomass) or bobwhite abundance (as measured by hunting success) during the subsequent fall. During the first two years of our study (1994 and 1995), results showed that arthropod biomass and bobwhite hunting success were slightly greater on the shooting course burned during lightning-season (May) than the one burned during February and March. These results indicate that applications of lightning-season fire can be used, at least on a small scale (i.e., management blocks <250 ha) in southern pine forests for hardwood control, and possibly enhancement of native ground cover without short-term negative impacts on northern bobwhites. Citation: Brennan, L.A., J.M. Lee, E.L. Staller, S.D. Wellendorf, and R.S. Fuller. 2000. Effects of seasonal fire applications on northern bobwhite brood habitat and hunting success. Pages 66-69 in L.A. Brennan, W.E. Palmer, L.W. Burger, and T.L. Pruden (eds.). Quail IV: Proceedings of the Fourth National Quail Symposium. Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, FL. INTRODUCTION Since the early part of the 20th century, forest and wildlife managers have used prescribed fire during February and March to maintain and enhance habitat for northern bobwhites in southern pine forests (Stod-dard 1931, Brennan et al. 1998). During the past 2 decades, some land managers have started to shift their use of prescribed fire to mimic more "natural" light-ning-season ignitions during April and August (Rob-bins and Myers 1992; Figure 1). Lightning-season fires 1 Present address: Dahomey National Wildlife Refuge, c/o Mis-sissippi Wetland Management District, P.O. Box 1070, 16736 Highway 8 West, Grenada, MS 38902-1070. 2 Present address: D.B. Warnell School of Forest Resources, D.W. Brooks Drive, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602. 3 Present address: St. Joe Land and Timber Company, Route 1, Box 70, Lamont, FL 32336. 66 encourage flowering of keystone native plants such as wiregrass (Aristida spp.), and seem to be, under certain conditions, more effective at control of invasive hard-woods than winter fires (Robbins and Myers 1992). However, the effects of varying seasonal applications of prescribed fires on vertebrates, as well as on plants and arthropods that provide food and habitat resources, remain poorly known. Additionally, it is conventional wisdom among many quail managers that use of light-ning-season fire (which coincides with the northern bobwhite nesting season) will have devastating nega-tive effects on bobwhites and other ground-nesting birds, despite the lack of data that either support or refute this idea. Our objective was to design a short-term, pilot study to examine the effects of seasonal applications (March versus May to June) of prescribed fire on: (1) elements of brood habitat (i.e., vegetation composition and arthropod biomass); and (2) hunting success dur-ing the subsequent fall and winter seasons. I I I 1Brennan et al.: Effects of Seasonal Fire Applications on Northern Bobwhite BroodSEASONAL FIRE EFFECTS 67 50,--------------, l40 ~ ~30 g er u.. w20 > ~ ~ 10 o....,_~~~~ ....... ~~--------' J F M A M J J A S O N D MONTH • Lightning-season D Quall Plantations Fig. 1. Relative frequency of applications of prescribed fire on quail plantations in the Tallahassee-Thomasville region of north-ern Florida and southern Georgia (data from Brennan 1994), compared to occurrence of lightning strikes in the southeastern U.S. (from Komarek 1964). METHODS Sampling Unit We used 2 shooting courses which were approxi-mately 200 ha each, on a 1,500 ha hunting plantation in northern Florida. Major activities in the annual cycle of management events of hunting plantations in north-ern Florida and southern Georgia are described in Brennan (1994). Each shooting course had received annual applications of prescribed fire during February or March for the past 5 decades. Management treat-ments (winter [February to March] versus summer [May to June] applications of prescribed fire) were as-signed at random. Prescribed fires were applied during 1994 and 1996, with no burning on either course during 1995. Approximately 70-80% of the vegetation on each shooting course was burned; remnant patches (several square meters up to 0.3 ha) remained unburned and were distributed throughout the area. Vegetation and Arthropod Sampling We estimated the relative frequency of occurrence of plant species present on dormant and lightning season burned areas using a meter square grid placed at 5 meter intervals along 25 meter transects. Thirty 25-meter tran-sects were sampled in areas that were burned during the summer, or during the winter, in each shooting course. Sampling was conducted during June, July, and August of 1994 and 1995. Arthropods were sampled using a D-vac suction device along 30 25-meter transects in winter and summer burned areas in each shooting course, also during June, July, and August of 1994 and 1995. During each sampling period, arthropods were sampled first. Vegetation data were subsequently collected within 1 to 24 hours after collecting arthropods. In the laboratory, arthropods were sorted to Order, dried for > 12 hours at 70 degrees Celsius, and weighed to 0.001 gram. Hunting Success Bobwhites were hunted with pointing dogs on 2 to 3 week intervals during the hunting season (Decem-ber to February). Tallies on number of bobwhite cov-eys flushed per half-day (4 hours) of hunting were re-corded by the plantation owners, managers, or dog handlers. Hunting success data were collected during the 1994, 1995, and 1996 hunting seasons. RESULTS Vegetation The shooting course burned during summer pro-duced more ragweed (Ambrosia sp.) and panic grass (Panicum sp.). The shooting course burned during winter produced more legumes than plots burned dur-ing summer. The presence of oak (Quercus sp.) sprouts was also greater on the area burned during winter (Fig. 2a). Otherwise, there was little difference in vegetation composition on the areas burned during the winter or summer. Arthropods During 1995, the course burned during summer produced more grasshoppers (Orthoptera), true bugs (Hemiptera), leaf hoppers (Homoptera), and spiders (Aranea), all of which are important foods for bob-white hens and chicks (Fig. 2b). Total biomass of ar-thropods was greater on the shooting course burned during summer in both years of the study (Fig. 3). During 1994, the shooting course burned during sum-mer produced a pulse of arthropods during the peak of the northern bobwhite breeding season (Fig. 4a). This pattern was not repeated during 1995 (Fig. 4b ). Hunting During the 1994 and 1995 hunting seasons, north-ern bobwhite hunting success was slightly greater on the shooting course burned during summer, compared to the shooting course burned during winter (Fig. 5). There was no difference in hunting success between the summer and winter burned shooting courses during the 1996 hunting season (Fig. 5). DISCUSSION Contrary to popular opnuon, conventional wis-dom, and management tradition, our results indicate that summer (lightning-season) applications of pre-scribed fire can be used for northern bobwhite habitat management, especially in areas where economical control of invasive hardwoods is needed. Such appli-cations of fire can be used without negatively impact-ing bobwhite populations or hunting quality. We cau-tion, however, that use of summer fire should be lim-ited to relatively small blocks ( <250 ha) and not be used exclusively over an entire shooting plantation. There may be significant economic advantages that can be gained from using summer fires for hard-2National Quail Symposium Proceedings, Vol. 4 [2000], Art. 1268 BRENNAN ET AL. A. 0.3 0.25 >- 0.2 u z ... = 0.115 CJ ... a: ... ... 0.1 > j:: C ... 0.05 ... a: B. 0.06 §0.05 1/) I 0.04 iii 8 0.03 0.. ~ 0.02 i 0.01 • SUMMER BURN (HOMER WIWAMS) 0 WINTER BURN (LANDING) • SUMMER BURN (HOMER WIWAMS) OWINTER BURN (LANDING) Fig. 2. (A) Frequency of occurrence of plants on shooting courses burned during summer (solid bars) and winter (open bars) measured during June, July, and August, 1994, and 1995. (B) Arthropod biomass on shooting courses burned during sum-mer (solid bars) and winter (open bars) measured during June, July, and August, 1994, and 1995. wood control. For example, control of small (1 to 2 centimeter diameter) hardwoods using fire costs about $5.00 per acre, whereas herbicide or mechanical meth-ods cost between $25.00 to $40.00, or more, per acre. Results from habitat use analyses of radio-marked northern bobwhites at Tall Timbers Research Station near Tallahassee, FL corroborate the results reported here. At Tall Timbers, bobwhite hens were document-ed moving broods into areas 1 to 2 weeks postfire during June and July, apparently to feed on phytoph-agous arthropods that respond to post-fire vegetation (Carver et al. this volume). This study, along with a series of companion stud-ies on seasonal effects of fire on other wildlife in southern pine forests, supports an emerging pattern which shows that winter versus summer fires influence wildlife populations in subtle ways . For example , re-sults from experimental comparisons of winter versus 0.14 § i 0.1 Q 0.08 m i 0.06 ~ 0.04 < 0.02 0 1994 1995 SUMMER WINTER SUMMER WINTER (HOMER 'MU.) (lANDING) (HOMEA 'MU.) (1.AH1)91G) Fig. 3. Arthropod biomass (g) on shooting courses burned dur-ing summer (solid bars) and winter (open bars) measured during June, July, and August, 1994, and 1995. summer fire applications had only minor effects on birds in both the Apalachicola National Forest (Engs-trom et al. 1996, Engstrom unpubl.), North Carolina Sandhills (Brennan et al. 1998), and wild turkeys (Me-leagris gallopavo) in the Red Hills region of southern Georgia and northern Florida (Sisson and Speake A . 1994 B. 1995 0.25 § 0.2 II) ~ ~ 0.1 iii 0 ~ 0.1 0 I!: ~0.05 (HOMER WILLIAMS) _ ...... I (LANDING) --0'---------------JUNE 20TH JULY 25TH AUGUST24TH 0.14 (HOMER WIWAMS) I (LANDING) WINTER BURN 0'---------------JUNE 28TH JULY 18TH AUGUST7TH Fig. 4. Arthropod biomass (g) on shooting courses burned dur-ing summer and winter measured during June, July, and August, 1994 (A), and 1995 (B). 3Brennan et al.: Effects of Seasonal Fire Applications on Northern Bobwhite BroodSEASONAL FIRE EFFECTS 69 1994 1996 YEAR 1996 SEASON OF FIRE • DORMANT SEASON fa LIGHTNING SEASON Fig. 5. Northern bobwhite hunting success during the 1994, 1995, and 1996 hunting seasons (December through February). One half-day hunt equals approximately 4 hours of hunting ef-fort. 1994). When the results from these studies are com-pared with earlier classic studies on the effects of fire exclusion on birds (Engstrom et al. 1984), it is clear that the use of fire is absolutely critical to the main-tenance of habitat for many species, including northern bobwhite, whereas the seasonal timing of fire appli-cation can be flexible. Nevertheless, much additional research is needed, such as long-term studies with ex-tensive spatial replication, before we will be able to fully understand the long-term effects of applying win-ter versus summer prescribed fire in the context of wildlife and ecosystem management. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank the plantation owner and managers for applying the experimental treatments and providing access to the property. Kaye Gainey composed the fig-ures and prepared the final version of the manuscript. Bill Palmer provided helpful editorial comments. LITERATURE CITED Brennan, L.A. 1994. Introductory comments and background, the Tall Timbers 1993 plantation managers survey. Pages 100-102 in Proceedings of the 1994 Tall Timbers Game Bird Seminar, Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, FL. Brennan, L.A., R.T. Engstrom, W.E. Palmer, S.M. Hermann, G.A. Hurst, L.W. Burger, and C.L. Hardy. 1998. Whither wildlife without fire? Transactions of the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference 63:402-414. Brennan, L.A., S.M. Hermann, and S.T. Lindeman. 1995. A burning question. Quail Unlimited Magazine 14:76-79. Engstrom, R.T., R.L. Crawford, and W.W. Baker. 1984. Breeding bird populations in relation to changing forest structure fol-lowing fire exclusion. Wilson Bulletin 96:437-450. Engstrom, R.T., D.B. McNair, L.A. Brennan, C.L. Hardy, and L.W. Burger. 1996. Influence on birds of dormant versus lightning-season prescribed fire in longleaf pine forests: ex-perimental design and preliminary results. Transactions of the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Con-ference 61 :200-207. Komarek, E. V. 1964. The natural ecology of lightning. Tall Tim-bers Fire Ecology Conference Proceedings 3:139-183. Robbins, L.B., and R. L. Myers. 1992. Seasonal effects of pre-scribed burning in Florida: a review. Miscellaneous Publi-cation No. 8. Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahassee, FL. Sisson, D.C., and D.W. Speake. 1994. Spring burning for wild turkey brood habitat: an evaluation. Proceedings of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies 48: 134-139. Stoddard, H.L. 1931. The bobwhite quail: its habits, preserva-tion, and increase. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. 4National Quail Symposium Proceedings, Vol. 4 [2000], Art. 12

Effects of Seasonal Fire Applications on Northern Bobwhite Brood Habitat and Hunting Success

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Effects of Seasonal Fire Applications on Northern Bobwhite Brood Habitat and Hunting Success

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