AVIAN RESEARCH AT THE SAVANNAH RIVER SITE: A MODEL FOR INTEGRATING BASIC RESEARCH AND LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT j JOHN B. DUNNING, JR. AND JOHN C. KILGO, EDITORS Studies in Avian Biology No. 21 A Publication of the Cooper Ornithological Society AVIAN RESEARCH AT THE SAVANNAH RIVER SITE: A MODEL FOR INTEGRATING BASIC RESEARCH AND LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT John B. Dunning, Jr. and John C. Kilgo, editors Sponsored by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service Savannah River Institute Studies in Avian Biology No. 21 A PUBLICATION OF THE COOPER ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY Cover photos (clockwise from upper left): prescribed bum for Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis) habitat management (file photo, USDA Forest Service, Savannah River); Wood Stork (Mycteria americana; photo by David E. Scott); researcher checking Wood Duck (Air sponsa) nestbox (photo by Robert A. Kennamer); Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis; photo by David E. Scott). STUDIES IN AVIAN BIOLOGY Edited by John T. Rotenberry Department of Biology University of California Riverside, CA 92521 Studies in Avian Biology is a series of works too long for The Condor, published at irregular intervals by the Cooper Ornithological Society. Manu- scripts for consideration should be submitted to the editor. Style and format should follow those of previous issues. Price $20.00 including postage and handling. All orders cash in advance; make checks payable to Cooper Ornithological Society. Send orders to Cooper Or- nithological Society, % Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology, 439 Calle San Pablo, Camarillo, CA 93010. ISBN: 1-891276-21-4 Library of Congress Control Number: 00-136545 Printed at Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, Kansas 66044 Issued: 18 December 2000 Copyright 0 by the Cooper Ornithological Society 2000 CONTENTS LIST OF AUTHORS . ..I V PREFACE . John B. Dunning, Jr., and John C. Kilgo 1 INTRODUCTION Integrating basic research and long-term management: a case study using avian research at the Savannah River Site . John B. Dunning, Jr., and John C. Kilgo 3 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES The Savannah River Site: site description, land use, and management history . David L. White and Karen E Gaines 8 Early avian research at the Savannah River Site: historical highlights and possibilities for the future . J. Michael Meyers and Eugene l? Odum 18 Historical winter status of three upland Ammodrumus sparrows in South Carolina . Douglas B. McNair and William Post 32 EXISTING LONG-TERM RESEARCH AND INTERACTIONS WITH MANAGEMENT Integration of research with long-term monitoring: breeding Wood Ducks on the Savannah River Site . Robert A. Kennamer and Gary R. Hepp 39 Mitigation for the endangered Wood Stork on the Savannah River Site . A. L. Bryan, Jr., M. C. Couler, and I. L. Brisbin, Jr. 50 Long-term studies of radionuclide contamination of migratory waterfowl at the Savannah River Site: implications for habitat management and nuclear waste site remediation . I. Lehr Brisbin, Jr., and Robert A. Kennamer 57 Integration of long-term research into a GIS-based landscape habitat model for the Red-cockaded Woodpecker . Kathleen E. Franzreb and E Thomas Lloyd 65 Studying wildlife at local and landscape scales: Bachmans’ Sparrows at the Savannah River Site . John B. Dunning, Jr., Brent J. Danielson, Bryan D. Watts, Jianguo Liu, and David G. Krementz 75 Effects of long-term forest management on a regional avifauna . John C. Kilgo, Kathleen E. Franzreb, Sidney A. Gauthreaux, Jr., Karl V. Miller, and Brian R. Chapman 81 Fifty years of ornithological coverage at SRS: what species and groups have fallen through the cracks? . D. Archibald McCallum, Sherry Leatherman, and John J. Mayer 87 CONCEPTUAL APPROACHES TO MERGING MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH NEEDS People and decisions: meeting the information needs of managers . John Blake and Elizabeth LeMaster LO4 Designing and presenting avian research to facilitate integration with man- agement . Christopher E. Moorman 109 Integrating long-term avian studies with planning and adaptive management: Department of Energy lands as a case study . Joanna Burger 115 An approach to quantifying long-term habitat change on managed forest lands . Paul B. Hamel and John B. Dunning, Jr. 122 Rising importance of the landscape perspective: an area of collaboration between managers and researchers . Brian K. Pilcher and John B. Dunning, Jr. 130 The mesopredator release hypothesis: integrating landbird management with ecological theory . Christopher M. Rogers and Stephen B. Heard 138 Coordinating short-term projects into an effective research program: effects of site preparation methods on bird communities in pine plantations . John C. Kilgo, Karl V. Miller, and William E Moore 144 CONCLUDING REMARKS Avian studies at the Savannah River Site . Eugene I? Odum 148 LITERATURE CITED . 149 LIST OF AUTHORS JOHN BLAKE PAUL B. HAMEL USDA Forest Service USDA Forest Service Savannah River Natural Center for Bottomland Hardwoods Research Resources Management and PO. Box 227 Research Institute Stoneville, MS 38776 PO. Box 700 STEPHENB. HEARD New Ellenton, SC 29809 Department of Biological Sciences I. L. BRISBIN, JR. University of Iowa Savannah River Ecology Laboratory Iowa City, IA 52242 PO. Drawer E GARY R. HEPP Aiken, SC 29802 Department of Zoology and Wildlife Science A. L. BRYAN, JR. Auburn University Savannah River Ecology Laboratory Auburn, AL 36849-5414 PO. Drawer E ROBERT A. KENNAMER Aiken, SC 29802 Savannah River Ecology Laboratory JOANNA BURGER PO. Drawer E Division of Life Sciences Aiken, SC 29802 Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute JOHN C. KILGO Ecology and Evolution Graduate Program USDA Forest Service Rutgers University Southern Research Station Piscataway, NJ 08854-8082 Savannah River Institute l? 0. Box 700 BRIAN R. CHAPMAN New Ellenton, SC 29809 Daniel B. Wamell School of Forest Resources University of Georgia DAVID G. KREMENTZ Athens, GA 30602 Patuxent Wildlife Research Center Warner School of Forest Resources M. C. COULTER University of Georgia Savannah River Ecology Laboratory Athens GA 30602-2152 PO. Drawer E Aiken, SC 29802 SHERRY LEATHERMAN (Present address: PO. Box 48 Department of Biology Chocorua, NH 03817) College of Charleston Charleston, SC 29424 BRENT J. DANIELSON (Present address: 135 West Eighth Street Department of Animal Ecology Fort Dix, NJ 08064) Iowa State University Ames IA 50011-3221 ELIZABETH LEMASTER USDA Forest Service JOHN B. DUNNING, JR. Savannah River Natural Department of Forestry and Natural Resources Resources Management and Purdue University Research Institute West Lafayette IN 47907-l 159 PO. Box 700 KATHLEEN E. FRANZREB New Ellenton, SC 29809 USDA Forest Service JIANGUO LILJ Southern Research Station Department’of Fisheries and Wildlife Department of Forest Resources Michigan State University 233 Lekotsky Hall East Lansing MI 48824 Clemson University Clemson, SC 29634-1003 E THOMAS LLOYD (Present address: Southern Appalachians Cooperative USDA Forest Service Ecosystems Studies Unit Southern Research Station Department of Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries Bent Creek Experimental Station University of Tennessee Route 3, Box 1249 Knoxville, TN 37901-1071) Asheville, NC 28806 KAREN E GAINES JOHN J. MAYER Savannah River Ecology Laboratory Westinghouse Savannah River Company University of Georgia P 0. Box 616 Aiken, SC 29802 Aiken, SC 29802 SIDNEY A. GAUTHREAUX, JR. D. ARCHIBALD MCCALLUM Department of Biological Sciences Department of Biology Clemson University College of Charleston Clemson, SC 29634 Charleston, SC 29424 DOUGLASB. MCNAIR BRIAN K. FILCHER’ Tall Timbers Research Station Department of Forestry and Natural Resources 13093 Henry Beadel Drive 1159 Forestry Building Tallahassee, FL 323 12-09 18 Purdue University West Lafayette, IN 47907-l 159 J. MICHAEL MEYERS (Present address: 710 S. Atlantic USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center Western Montana College Box 93 Wamell School of Forest Resources, Dillon, MT 59725) University of Georgia Athens, GA 30602-2152. WILLIAM POST Ornithology Department KARL V. MILLER Charleston Museum Daniel B. Warnell School of Forest Resources 360 Meeting Street University of Georgia Charleston, SC 29403 Athens, GA 30602 CHRISTOPHERM. ROGERS WIL,LIAM E MOORE Department of Biological Sciences USDA Forest Service University of Iowa Southern Research Station Iowa City, IA 52242 Savannah River Institute (Present address: Department of Biological Sciences PO. Box 710 Wichita State University New Ellenton, SC 29809 Wichita, KS 67260) (Present address: Department of Forest Resources 261 Lehotsky Hall BRYAN D. WATX Clemson University Center for Conservation Biology Clemson, SC 29634) College of William and Mary Williamsburg, VA 23 187 CHRISTOPHERE. MOORMAN Clemson University DAVID L. WHITE 261 Lehotsky Hall USDA Forest Service Department of Forest Resources Southern Research Station Clemson, SC 29634-1003 Clemson University (Present address: Extension Forestry, Box 803 Clemson, SC 29634 North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC 27695) EUGENEI? ODUM Institute of Ecology University of Georgia Athens, GA 30602-2202 Studies in Avian Biology No. 21:1-2, 2000. PREFACE JOHN B. DUNNING, JR., AND JOHN C. KILGO The Savannah River Site (SRS) is a 78,000- birds found in abandoned farmland even before ha tract in western South Carolina operated by the Savannah River Site was officially designat- the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE). It is ed. SREL researchers have continued their or- designated as a DOE National Environmental nithological research to the present, covering Research Park. Although the primary mission of many issues