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Type: Conference Paper
Author(s): R. R. Sharitz; K. R. Madden; D. W. Imm; S. J. Harper
Publication Date: 2004

Sandhills of the southeastern U.S. that occur along the fall line between the Coastal Plain and Piedmont provinces support a unique flora and fauna, including a suite of threatened, endangered and sensitive (TES) species. These sandhills communities have become increasingly fragmented as a result of urban and suburban development and agricultural activities. The federal government has extensive land holdings throughout this region, including military installations, and forests on these sites are typically managed to promote open pine woodlands as habitat for the endangered redcockaded woodpecker Picoides borealis. Management for sustainable sandhills TES habitat would enable the Department of Defense and other land managers to conserve multiple TES simultaneously; however it is not known whether military training activities and forest management for long-leaf pine woodlands could impact the sandhills ecosystem. The objectives of this research are to delineate sandhills communities from adjacent forests, to evaluate microhabitat characteristics of selected sandhills TES species, and to develop methods to evaluate effects of land management activities on these species. Vegetation, soil, and canopy openness data were collected from 43 field sites located at Fort Benning, Fort Gordon and the Savannah River Site. Cluster analysis and ordination were used to distinguish vegetation groups and examine their relation to environmental variables; the xeric sandhills communities occur on soils highest in sand content (95%) and lowest in calcium (13-22 ppm), magnesium (2.3-3.3 ppm) and manganese (1.8-2.2 ppm). Microhabitat characteristics and plant abundances in populations of ten sandhills TES species have been measured. Future work will include experiments to quantify the impacts of land management practices on sandhills communities and TES species. © 2004 by the Ecological Society of America. Abstract reproduced by permission.

Online Links
Citation: Sharitz, R. R., K. R. Madden, D. W. Imm, and S. J. Harper. 2004. Description of southeastern fall-line sandhills communities and of habitat characteristics of TES plant species [abstract]. v. 89, p. 463.

Cataloging Information

Topics:
Regions:
Keywords:
  • agriculture
  • calcium
  • cavity nesting birds
  • cavity trees
  • coastal plain
  • community ecology
  • fire dependent species
  • forest management
  • fragmentation
  • Georgia
  • habitat types
  • land management
  • land use
  • longleaf pine
  • magnesium
  • manganese
  • microclimate
  • military lands
  • mineral soils
  • multiple resource management
  • Oregon
  • overstory
  • Picoides borealis
  • Piedmont
  • pine forests
  • Pinus palustris
  • population density
  • population ecology
  • sandhills
  • soil nutrients
  • soils
  • South Carolina
  • statistical analysis
  • threatened and endangered species (animals)
  • threatened and endangered species (plants)
  • understory vegetation
  • URBAN AND SUBURBAN DEVELOPMENT
  • wildlife habitat management
  • xeric soils
Tall Timbers Record Number: 19091Location Status: In-fileCall Number: Journals-EAbstract Status: Okay, Fair use, Reproduced by permission
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 43823

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by Tall Timbers and is provided without charge to promote research and education in Fire Ecology. The E.V. Komarek Fire Ecology Database is the intellectual property of Tall Timbers.