Rebecca R. Sharitz • Steve Harper • Don Imm • Beverly Collins
Kathryn Madden • Tracey Tuberville • John Dilustro
James Westervelt



Abstract

In the southeastern U.S., the federal government has extensive land holdings in the Fall Line ecoregion, which occurs between the Piedmont and Coastal Plain. Sandhills occurring within this region are nutrient-poor habitats with sandy, xeric soils. Extending from the Carolinas, through Georgia and into Alabama, these Fall Line sandhills support a unique flora and fauna, including a suite of rare or uncommon plant and animal species. The Department of Defense must address simultaneously the habitat sensitivities of these species along with demands associated with military training and other land-use activities. This complex challenge requires the integration of diverse information with understanding of processes operating at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Thus, the goal of this SERDP-funded project is to develop methods to evaluate effects of military training activities and forest management practices, especially those that promote habitat for the federally-endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW, Picoides borealis), on the sustainability of sandhills communities and associated threatened, endangered, and sensitive (TES) species. GIS analysis and field sampling at Fort Benning, Fort Gordon, and the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site (SRS) have been used to delineate sandhills communities from adjacent forests. Results indicate that sandhills tree composition is dominated by four oak species, with canopy openness ranging from 20-39%. Soils have high sand content, low moisture, and low nutrients (See Objective 1). Populations of selected sandhills TES plants and animals that occur on the three installations are being inventoried and microhabitat conditions (canopy composition and openness, herbaceous and woody vegetation cover, and soil characteristics) are being measured for habitat characterization (See Objective 2). An experimental approach has been developed to re-introduce the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) into sites managed for RCW habitat at the SRS, as an assessment of population re-establishment success and effects of RCW habitat management on this TES (See Objective 3). Future work will include extensive field experiments and surveys to quantify impacts of forest management practices on Fall Line sandhills communities and selected TES across a broad array of military land-use conditions.