OHIO-BIRDS Archives

October 2015

OHIO-BIRDS@LISTSERV.MIAMIOH.EDU

Options: Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
John Pogacnik <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
John Pogacnik <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sat, 3 Oct 2015 13:47:47 -0400
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (1 lines)

I think there are a lot of factors going on with the grouse decline, especially in Northeast Ohio.  

A lot has happened in the last 50 years.  I look at a lot of our parks and I see maple seedlings on the ground and the next layer of maple being trees 30' taller or more.  There is a huge gap in our forest regeneration.  I looked at some of our maples that were 30' or more and they're 40-50 years in age.  So that is 40-50 years where we have had little or no regeneration.  In our parks we did not have deer problems that long ago.  In some parks things do look somewhat normal with forest regeneration still occuring.  So what changed things?  I think earthworms have played a big part in it.  In areas where there is still regeneration you don't have a worm problem, but you still have deer. 

For those that are unfamiliar, earthworms are not native to glaciated Ohio.  Of the 17 species of worms found up here 15 are from Europe and 2 from Asia.  Worms reduce the leaf litter and destroy some of the mychorrhyzal fungas in the ground.  This results in a loss of forest regeneration.  Add to this deer browse and an increase in raccoons and you can see why there are problems.  

This year we had a wet spring and early summer which was very favorable for worms.  In many areas we had little if any leaf litter by July and that was when it got dry.  You look at the dry forest floor with no leaves, little if any underbrush and you see the problem.  

While there is still some good habitat, it is very limited.  If you're a habitat specialist there is even less habitat.  Add to all this the raccoon problem, ground nesting is very difficult.  And then to make matters worse up here, we have an unknown disease killing beech trees.  Stands of young beech are common in areas like our Hell Hollow park where we have nesting juncos,  winter wrens, magnolia and Canada warblers.  The beech are declining rapidly and I'm already seeing declines in these nesting birds.  I was in areas of the park last week where 90% of the understory is beech with absolutely no tree seedlings coming up.

Things continue to change up here.  Native grasses are starting to increase in our woods.  Areas that were once wildflowers are now changing to grass.  Unfortunately invasives are also increasing.  What is not increasing up here is woody growth, unless you want to look at invasives like buckthorn.  What all this means for grouse and forest nesting birds remains to be seen.

Quality old growth forests should be maintained.  Besides birds, there are a lot of other organisms associated with this habitat.  I'm not sure how things are elsewhere in the state, but there seem to be changes everywhere.   Things are changing fast in our forests and we really need to maintain what we have. 

John Pogacnik



______________________________________________________________________



Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.

Please consider joining our Society, at www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php.

Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.





You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:

listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS

Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]


















ATOM RSS1 RSS2