Avian Community Response Research Articles

Identifying Avian Community Response to Sagebrush Vegetation Restoration in Grand Teton National Park

Approximately 50-60% of native sagebrush steppe has been lost to non-native grasses, which has contributed to population decreases for sagebrush-associated songbirds. Removal of non-native grasses and restoration treatments may return structure and function of sagebrush steppe and ultimately benefit songbirds, but their responses must be evaluated. To determine breeding songbird community responses to sagebrush restoration treatments, in 2013 we conducted bird surveys at restored plots at the Kelly Hayfields restoration area in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. We compared bird communities and vegetation characteristics in restored plots to plots that were unrestored and to areas of native sagebrush steppe as starting and endpoints for restoration, respectively. Unrestored plots were dominated by non-native grasses; restored plots were dominated by forbs and bare ground and had very little shrub cover (< 0.1%). Native sagebrush plots were dominated by shrubs and native bunchgrasses. Bird community composition was distinct among the three types of plots. Abundance of grassland birds was highest in unrestored plots, and was positively related to cover of non-native grass and litter depth. Abundance of shrubland birds was highest in native sagebrush, and was positively associated with shrub cover. There were very few detections of birds in restored plots, and most species were negatively associated with the high levels of bare ground that characterized these plots. Restored areas may initially (≤5 yrs) provide little breeding bird habitat, which should be accounted for when determining schedules of restoration treatments at Kelly Hayfields.

Bird community dynamics and vegetation relationships among stand establishment practices in intensively managed pine stands

Intensively managed pine occupies 22% of the forest land base in the southeastern United States. More fully understanding effects of standard silvicultural practices on biodiversity could improve wildlife management recommendations on intensively managed landscapes. Although multiple stand-establishment techniques (i.e., site preparation and chemical herbaceous control of competition) are used for forest regeneration, we lack an understanding of causal mechanisms for bird community responses during stand establishment through canopy closure. Therefore, we investigated bird community responses to five stand-establishment treatments in intensively managed pine (Pinus spp.) stands in the Lower Coastal Plain of Mississippi, USA as a function of changes in vegetation structure and coverage. We used a randomized complete block design of four pine stands (blocks) divided into five experimental units and with treatments randomly assigned to each unit. Our treatments represented available establishment practices and increased in intensity from mechanical or chemical site preparation with subsequent banded herbaceous control to mechanical and chemical site preparation with 2years of subsequent broadcast herbaceous weed control applications. We sampled bird communities with point counts and measured visual obstruction, pine tree height, woody stem density, and vegetation structure and coverage by growth form (e.g., forb, fern, grass, legume, pine, sedge and rush, woody non-pine, vine). Bird communities had an overall negative response to increasing intensity of stand-establishment treatments, and temporal trends from site preparation to canopy closure were absent. Common species appeared relatively unaffected by treatments. However, presence of species with high conservation value and availability of early successional habitat conditions emphasized conservation potential of intensively managed pine forests for birds and justify further experimental investigation of bird community responses to stand-establishment treatments. We recommend forest managers continue to incorporate a variety of stand establishment practices to ensure habitat availability for a variety of bird species, and that researchers further investigate mechanistic factors of avian community responses to silvicultural practices.

Avian community response to pine flatwoods management

Across the southeastern United States, changing disturbance regimes threaten the integrity of pine flatwoods, reducing their suitability as habitat for a variety of avian species, many of which are considered of conservation priority. Prescribed burning and roller chopping are management practices widely used in pine flatwoods to control shrubs and increase the growth of herbaceous vegetation. However, the impacts these treatments have on this system and its associated avian communities are largely unknown. We examined the effects of prescribed burning and roller chopping on pine flatwoods avian communities using a paired sample approach. Avian communities were compared between treated (e.g., burned) and untreated areas. We considered abundance and richness of all birds, but also groups of conservation concern, and those likely impacted by seasonal management practices (e.g., breeding and non-breeding categories, and woodland, successional-scrub, and grassland guilds). Dormant season burning resulted in decreases in avian species richness and abundance within the non-breeding, overwintering community. In situations where the maintenance or enhancement of this avian group is desired, growing season burning appears beneficial and should be used in preference to dormant season burning. Growing season burning benefited breeding avian communities, resulting in increases in species richness and abundance within this group. Dormant season roller chopping had no effect on species richness or abundance of any avian category or guild. Increases in abundance within breeding avian communities were observed following growing season roller chopping and a roller chopping/burning combination. Grazing, did not mediate the effects of prescribed burning or roller chopping on avian species richness or abundance. The use of dormant season burning is likely inappropriate in situations where conservation and management of non-breeding, overwintering species is a priority. The use of growing season roller chopping appears to provide a potential treatment alternative in situations where positive effects on breeding species are desired. Overall, maintenance of avian abundance and richness may be best achieved through the diverse application of prescribed burning and roller chopping based on season, frequency, and space.

Avian population and community processes in forest ecosystems: Long-term research in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest

Long-term studies in relatively undisturbed forest ecosystems, such as occur in many of the USFS’ Experimental Forests, provide valuable insight into bird population and community processes, information pertinent to forest management and bird conservation. Major findings from 40 years of research in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in north-central New Hampshire reviewed here show that the distributions and abundances of bird species are dynamic, even within well-developed and mature forests, and that species respond differently to habitat (vegetation) structure, food availability, and other features of the forest environment. At the local scale, bird population demography is most affected by factors that influence fecundity and recruitment, mainly food availability, weather, nest predators, and density dependent processes. Fecundity is strongly correlated with subsequent recruitment and is critical for maintaining breeding population size. Events in the non-breeding season, however, also influence the abundance and demography of breeding populations, indicating the need to assess factors operating throughout the species’ annual cycle. At the landscape scale, populations in temperate forests are spatially structured by each species’ response to habitat and environmental patterns, but also by social interactions such as competition and conspecific attraction. Settlement patterns and ultimately reproductive performance depend on habitat quality, based on vegetation structure, food availability and nest predator effects that vary across the landscape. Results from these long-term studies centered at Hubbard Brook provide a mechanistic understanding of avian population dynamics and community responses. The results provide a framework for predicting how future changes in habitat quality, climate, and other environmental threats may influence bird populations and communities in north-temperate forests.

Avian Community Responses to Mechanical Thinning of a Pinyon-Juniper Woodland: Specialist Sensitivity to Tree Reduction

ABSTRACT: Natural area managers in regions of the semi-arid west, particularly on the Colorado Plateau, are presently dealing with expanding pinyon (Pinus spp. Engelm.) — juniper (Juniperus spp. Engelm.) woodlands on rangelands. Increased equipment costs associated with ‘chaining’, and dangers associated with prescribed fires, have resulted in more instances where mechanical thinning of woodlands is being used. Our 2005 to 2006 study within Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, Utah, examined responses of breeding birds to the mechanical reduction of pinyon-juniper woodlands within a randomized 4-block design that incorporated 11 control and nine treatment bird count stations. We surveyed birds within 3.1-ha bird-count stations (n = 20) prior to, and following, pinyon-juniper mechanical reduction treatments. Thinning in April 2006 removed a mean of 92% (+ 6.4% SE) of live trees from treatment blocks. The avian guild most greatly influenced by mechanical thinning included pinyon-juniper obligate spe...

Avian Community Response to Grazing Intensity on Monoculture and Mixed Florida Pastures

Abstract Monoculture and mixed pastures in Florida provide habitat for a variety of resident and migratory bird species. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of grazing on vegetation structure and bird species richness and abundance in grazed monoculture and mixed pastures. Study pasture units were subject to four cattle grazing intensities: 0 = nongrazed (control), 15 = low, 20 = medium, or 35 = high animal units (AU) per pasture unit (no cattle, 1.3, 1.0, and 0.6 ha · AU −1 , on monoculture pastures and no cattle, 2.1, 1.6, and 0.9 ha · AU −1 , on mixed pastures). Monoculture pastures displayed a greater decrease in spatial heterogeneity of the vegetative community in the presence of grazing than mixed pastures. An increase in grazing intensity led to declines in total avian species richness and abundance and species richness within short-distance migrant, neotropical migrant, and permanent resident guilds on monoculture pastures. Declines in total species richness and abundance and neotropical migrant guild species richness and abundance were observed on mixed pastures subject to increasing grazing intensity. However, species richness within short-distance migrant and urban guilds and abundance within the grassland guild increased on this pasture type in the presence of grazing. Loss of spatial heterogeneity typically results in a lack of suitable habitat for birds that occupy the extremes of the vegetation structure gradient. This can lead to a loss of species richness and abundance. For the majority of avian guilds, a low grazing intensity of 1.3 ha · AU −1 and 2.1 ha · AU −1 on monoculture and mixed pasture, respectively, is recommended to maintain abundance. However, these grazing intensities may result in declines in species richness. Ultimately, if a range of avian species are to be supported on monoculture and mixed pastures, spatial heterogeneity of plant structure and composition must be maintained.

Avian community responses to the establisment of small garden allotments within a Mediterranean habitat mosaic

Ecological studies focused on small-scale habitat alterations have found positive, null, and negative effects on biodiversity. In this study, we describe the effects that establishing a relatively small area of garden allotments had on bird communities. To assess such effects, we analyzed avian community diversity (i.e., species richness and abundance) and behavioral traits (i.e., foraging, perching). Although land transformation was recent and on a small geographic-scale, our results showed that bird communities in the allotments were dominated by a few species, while in the almond plantation (former habitat) evenness was higher. When perching and foraging behavior was compared in the two study areas, we found a significantly higher proportion of foraging in the garden allotments, and a higher proportion of birds perching in the naturalized plantation. Although new habitats often enhance regional bird species richness in Mediterranean landscapes, we found no evidence of an increase in regional avian diversity related to the establishment of small garden allotments. We propose that future harvesting activities should consider the scale, intensity, and frequency of the generated perturbation in order to promote biodiversity.

The effects of fire on avian communities: spatio-temporal attributes of the literature 1912 - 2003

We reviewed the temporal, geographic, and biogeographic distribution, as well as relevant research and publication attributes, of 512 documents addressing the effects of fire on avian communities, to provide an assessment of the scope of this literature and recommendations for future research. We summarized relevant attributes of all documents to identify patterns that were then tested against appropriate null models. Most documents reported on original research, with the literature evenly divided between studies investigating controlled fire and those reporting on uncontrolled wildfires. Conceptual reviews made up the second largest category; methodological reviews, bibliographies, and meta-analyses were rare. Although the literature examined spans nearly a century, most documents were published within the last 15 years, with new literature being added at an increasing rate. However, increases seem to be skewed towards original research at the expense of synthesis. An overwhelming majority of documents were published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and in English. Other important publication outlets included MS and PhD theses and conference proceedings. The spatial distribution of documents by continent and biogeographic domain and division differed significantly from expectations based on land area. Future research on avian community response to fire should focus on (1) continued synthesis, emphasizing methodological reviews, bibliographies, and North America; (2) increasing research efforts in areas currently underrepresented in the literature, including Africa, Asia, and South and Central America; and (3) meta-analyses.

Predicting land cover change and avian community responses in rapidly urbanizing environments

We used an integrated modeling approach to simulate future land cover and predict the effects of future urban development and land cover on avian diversity in the Central Puget Sound region of Washington State, USA. We parameterized and applied a land cover change model (LCCM) that used output from a microsimulation model of urban development, UrbanSim, and biophysical site and landscape characteristics to simulate land cover 28 years into the future. We used 1991, 1995, and 1999 Landsat TM-derived land cover data and three different spatial partitions of our study area to develop six different estimations of the LCCM. We validated model simulations with 2002 land cover. We combined UrbanSim land use outputs and LCCM simulations to predict changes in avian species richness. Results indicate that landscape composition and configuration were important in explaining land cover change as well as avian species response to landscape change. Over the next 28 years, urban land cover was predicted to increase at the expense of agriculture and deciduous and mixed lowland forests. Land cover changes were predicted to reduce the total number of avian species, with losses primarily in native forest specialists and gains in common synanthropic species such as the American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos). The integrated modeling framework we present has potential applications in urban and natural resource planning and management and in assessing of the effects of policies on land development, land cover, and avian biodiversity.

Avian Community Response to Midrotation Herbicide Release and Prescribed Burning in Conservation Reserve Program Plantations

Abstract Former agricultural lands converted to pine (Pinus spp.) plantations in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) have potential to provide early successional (ES) habitat for many regionally declining pine/grassland and shrub-successional bird species if actively managed with appropriate disturbance regimes. One such regime is use of the selective herbicide Imazapyr (Arsenal Applicators Concentrate) and prescribed burning, which is permitted on CRP lands and cost share payments are available. This study quantified combined effects of Imazapyr and prescribed fire on the breeding season avian community characteristics and pine volume growth in thinned, midrotation afforested loblolly pine (Pinus taedaL.) plantations in Mississippi. Herbicide treatments were applied in fall of 2002 and winter burns were conducted during winter and early spring of 2002–2003. ES bird species richness was significantly greater in the treated plots compared with controls for both 2003 and 2004. Ten individual species exhibited treatment effects. These responses by ES bird species indicate that midrotation CRPplantations can provide needed ES habitat if treated with appropriate disturbance regimes.

Avian community response to vegetation and structural features in grasslands managed with fire and grazing

This study examined the importance of natural and manmade structural features on the avian community relative to management-induced vegetation dynamics. The study was conducted within the context of two alternative vegetation management treatments applied to pastures on a tallgrass prairie site in northcentral Oklahoma from 2001 to 2003. The brown-headed cowbird, a brood parasite, and the grasshopper sparrow, a common grassland obligate species, were most abundant in areas managed under a traditional treatment in which entire pastures were annually burned. Conversely, Henslow’s sparrow, a grassland obligate of conservation concern, was completely absent from traditional treatment pastures. Total bird species diversity and grassland obligate richness was highest in the patch-burn treatment, in which only discrete portions of each pasture were burned each year to create a mosaic of vegetation ‘patches’ in various stages of recovery from disturbance. Models of bird abundance reflected not only species-specific vegetation preferences, but also the often negative influence of structural features such as woody edges, roads, and ponds on breeding bird use of grasslands. Our study demonstrated that both disturbance-derived vegetation attributes and structural features contribute to heterogeneity and influence subsequent use by and composition of grassland bird communities.

Winter Avian Community and Sparrow Response to Field Border Width

Abstract:Transformations of agricultural practices in the southeastern United States have drastically reduced preexisting quantities of strip‐cover habitat along field margins. The National Conservation Buffer Initiative has promoted the establishment of herbaceous field borders to restore wildlife benefits once provided by such habitat. We evaluated effects of native warm‐season grass field border establishment and width on winter bird response. Narrow (approx. 8‐m) field borders represented a marginal improvement to non‐bordered margins that were cropped ditch to ditch, whereas wide (approx. 30‐m) borders significantly enhanced total avian conservation value, abundance, species richness, and sparrow abundance compared to non‐ or narrow borders. Furthermore, presence of wide borders altered bird use of row‐crop fields. We observed increased sparrow (Emberizidae) abundances in agricultural fields adjacent to wide borders, which likely resulted from enhanced waste grain foraging opportunities. Given these benefits to wintering farmland birds, we advocate the integration of herbaceous field border habitat in agricultural landscapes, particularly borders of enhanced width.

Avian Community Response to Lowland Tropical Rainforest Isolation: 40 Years of Change at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica

Since 1960, most of the forest surrounding the La Selva Biological Station, an intensively studied tropical research facility in Costa Rica, has been converted to agricultural uses. We used quantitative censuses and analysis of previously published categorical abundances to assess changes in the bird community, and we evaluated potential causes of species-specific changes by assessing their association with habitat, diet, participation in mixed-species flocks, and nest type. Approximately the same percentage of species increased as decreased in abundance from 1960 to 1999 (10-20% of all species, depending on method of assessment). Diet was the single most important trait associated with declining species. At least 50% of the species that declined have insectivorous diets. Use of forest habitat and participation in mixed-species flocks were also significant factors associated with declines, but nest type was unrelated to change in abundance. The species that increased in abundance tended to occur in open habitats and have omnivorous diets. These results reinforce the importance of several population risk factors associated with tropical understory insectivory and mixed-species flocking: patchy spatial distribution, low population density, large home range, and dietary specialization. La Selva's protected area (1611 ha), despite a forested connection on one boundary with a higher elevation national park, is apparently too small to maintain at least one major guild (understory insectivores). This first quantitative assessment of bird community change at La Selva highlights the need to intensify study of the mechanisms and consequences of biological diversity change in tropical forest fragments.

Avian community response to a golf-course landscape unit gradient

Although golf-course construction significantly alters natural wildlife habitat, the resulting remnant, disturbed, and introduced landscape patches may provide valuable habitat for birds. Considering the current rate of new course construction, the effects of land consumption and habitat alteration on breeding bird communities in coastal South Carolina are of immediate concern. During summer 2000 and 2001, we sampled 24 golf-course landscape units (GCLU) to assess their value to the breeding bird community. We defined a GCLU as the legally owned parcel of land where a golf course was sited, including the course and all associated development (e.g., residential housing). Sample units (n = 24) were selected to represent a gradient of GCLUs ranging from low to high landscape alteration and were subjectively classified a priori into 1 of 3 alteration groups (G1 [low], G2 [medium] or G3 [high]). We conducted Analysis of Variance procedures to determine whether estimations of species richness, Neotropical migrant richness, and degree of conservation concern differed across the gradient. We explored relative strengths of associations between landscape structure (landscape composition and spatial configuration) and avian community parameters at 2 spatial scales using stepwise multiple regression techniques. We used simple linear regression to assess the relationship between percent forested area of the GCLU and avian community parameters. Total number of species and number of Neotropical migrant species, as well as degree of conservation concern of the species present, were higher in less-altered GCLUs (F2,21 <14, P < 0.05), and were significantly influenced by percent forested area (adj. R2=0.39–0.57). The majority of birds associated with less-developed landscapes were woodland and scrub-shrub breeding species, while urban-breeding species were found primarily in the more-altered landscapes (χ2=440.3, df=6, n=4757, P < 0.001). The area of forest and disturbance patches, size variability in managed turfgrass patches, and measures of spatial complexity proved most useful in explaining variability of response variables due to landscape structure (adj. R2=0.57–0.90).

Avian community response to vegetation succession caused by the pine wood nematode in Zhejiang, China

Avian community response to vegetation succession caused by the pine wood nematode in Zhejiang, China

Avian community response to pine—grassland restoration

Abstract Habitat management for an endangered species may affect nontarget communities. We examined avian community response to pine—grassland restoration for red-cockaded woodpeckers (Picoides borealis) and traditional United States Forest Service pine sawtimber management at Homochitto National Forest, Mississippi from 1994–1996. Thirteen species were more abundant in pine-grassland restoration stands, whereas 5 species were more abundant in traditionally managed pine sawtimber stands. Mature restored pine-grassland stands had greater avian species richness, total bird abundance, and avian conservation value than traditionally managed pine sawtimber stands. We used logistic regression models in an exploratory analysis to predict occurrence of selected species using stand- and landscape-scale habitat characteristics. Probability of redeyed vireo (Vireo olivaceus) occurrence increased with increasing hardwood canopy cover, and probability of yellow-breasted chat (Icteria virens) occurrence increased with ...

Response of Avian Communities to Historic Habitat Change in the Northern Chihuahuan Desert

Abstract: Throughout much of the northern Chihuahuan Desert, the grasslands that were widespread at the time of European settlement have been replaced by desert shrublands. Little is known about the effects of this change on avian communities. We analyzed historic U.S. Government Land Office records to assess large‐scale changes in vegetation cover from the 1880s to the present day. We studied vegetation and avian communities in one grassland habitat type and four desert shrubland habitat types to examine (1) how breeding‐bird communities may have changed in response to habitat conversion from grassland to desert shrubland and (2) whether breeding‐bird communities differ among the four desert shrubland habitat types that compose Chihuahuan Desert scrub in this region. To estimate the characteristics of 1880s black grama ( Bouteloua eriopoda) grassland, we focused on plots located within extensive patches of present‐day black grama and compared the avian communities found there with those in desert shrubland. Species richness was higher in desert shrubland than grassland. Among the desert shrubland habitat types, species richness was consistently highest in mesquite. Avian abundance patterns differed among the four desert shrubland habitat types. At least 30% of the avian community in each habitat pair was distinct. Conversion of grassland to shrubland in south‐central New Mexico has likely been accompanied by a major turnover in the avian community. Remaining tracts of black grama provide habitat for species that may be uniquely adapted to the northern Chihuahuan Desert and should be protected.

Response of Avian Communities to Disturbance by an Exotic Insect in Spruce-Fir Forests of the Southern Appalachians

Response of Avian Communities to Disturbance by an Exotic Insect in Spruce-Fir Forests of the Southern Appalachians

Response of Avian Communities to Disturbance by an Exotic Insect in Spruce‐Fir Forests of the Southern Appalachians

The avian community of montane coniferous forests changed substantially over 21 years in response to the introduction of the balsam woolly adelgid insect (Adelges piceae) and the resulting death of endemic Fraser fir trees (Abies fraseri). These relict forests are at the southern limit of their distribution on the highest ridges of the southern Appalachian Mountains. We combined a historical study at Mount Collins in the Great Smoky Mountains with a geographic comparison of sites within five southern Appalachian mountain ranges variably affected by the adelgid. At Mount Collins, fir was virtually eliminated and canopy cover reduced to half its previous level. Long‐term data from Mount Collins showed that the combined density for all breeding birds also declined by half. Of the common territorial species present in 1974, 10 of 11 declined, 6 by more than 50%. Some species are near local extinction. Canopy‐ and subcanopy‐foraging species declined more than near‐ground and trunk‐foraging species. In addition, invasions of birds characteristic of open and disturbed forests have diluted the boreal character of the avifauna. These changes are consistent with two other long‐term studies and are not explained by regional population trends. In the other southern Appalachian mountain ranges, where habitat is not as extensive, the adelgid invasion resulted in greater declines in avian abundance, stronger effects on sensitive species, and more pronounced invasions by successional species. Sensitive species in the southern Appalachian studies were also strongly affected in other studies of forest disturbance by fire and logging. The extent of relatively pristine spruce‐fir forest and the population pools in other forest types in the Great Smoky Mountains appear to have buffered the effects of forest decline on the bird community.Respuesta de Comunidades de Aves a Perturbaciones de un Insecto Exótico en Bosques de Abeto en el Sur de los ApalachesLa comunidad de aves de bosques coníferos de montaña cambió sustancialmente a lo largo de 21 años en respuesta a la introducción del insecto adélgido lanudo Aldeges piceae y a la resultante muerte de árboles de Abetos Fraser (Abies fraseri). Estos vestigios de bosques se encuentran al limite sureño de su distribución en las montañas mas altas de los Apalaches. Combinamos un estudio histórico del monte Collins en las montañas Great Smoky con una comparación geográfica de sitios entre cinco cordilleras de los Apalaches afectados en forma variable por el adélgido. En el monte Collins, los abetos fueron virtualmente eliminados y la covertura del dosel reducida a la mitad de su nivel previo. Datos de largo plazo del monte Collins mostraron que la densidad combinada para todas las especies de aves anidando también disminuyó a la mitad. De las especies comunes en el territorio en 1974, 10 de 11 disminuyeron, seis en mas de un 50%. Algunas especies se encuentran cerca de su extinción local. Especies forrajeras de dosel y sub‐dosel disminuyeron mas que aquellas especies forrajeras a nivel cercano al suelo y troncos. Aunado a esto, invasiones de aves características de áreas abiertas y bosques perturbados han diluído el carácter boreal de la avifauna. Estos cambios son consistentes con otros dos estudios de largo plazo y no son explicados por tendencias poblacionales a nivel regional. En otras cordilleras de los Apalaches donde el hábitat no es tan extenso la invasión del adélgido resultó en una mayor disminución de la abundancia de aves, mayores efectos en especies sensitivas e invasiones mas pronunciadas de especies sucesionales. Especies sensitivas en estudios del sur de los Apalaches también resultaron fuertemente afectadas en otros estudios de perturbación de un bosque debido a incendios y tala. La extensión de un bosque relativamente vírgen de Abetos y los reservas poblacionales en otros tipos de bosques en las montañas Great Smoky parecen haber amortiguado los efectos de declive forestal en la comunidad de aves.

Avian Community Response to Fire and Mechanical Shrub Control in South Florida

Effects of prescribed fire and roller chopping applied in 2 seasons on woody vegetation and the associated avian community of a southwestern Florida former dry prairie were studied. There were 5 vegetation treatments with 2 replications of each; treatments were control, winter burn, winter chop, summer burn, and summer chop. Percent shrub cover was sampled with line intercept transects. Birds were censused 25 times using the variable circular plot method. Burning in either season reduced shrub cover temporarily; chopping in either season reduced shrub cover significantly and it remained reduced throughout the 15 months of this study. Bird species richness and abundance were similar in control and burn plots. Birds were not seen in summer chop plots up to 5 months posttreatment. Bird species richness and abundance remained low in both winter and summer chop plots. Bird species that were observed in chop plots were mostly open country, grassland inhabitants, indicating a trend toward prairie restoration.