Louisiana Pine Snake
The Louisiana Pine Snake (Pituophis ruthveni) is usually
found in pine forests with sandy soils that have been burned frequently enough
to maintain a herbaceous layer. Currently, two main threats to the pine
snake are believed to be habitat degradation through a lack of prescribed
burning and motorized vehicles on roads and trails.
The pine snake is listed by the State of Texas as
threatened and is currently considered a candidate species by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service. The development and implementation of a
candidate conservation agreement with interested parties across the range of
this species could pre-empt listing of the pine snake as threatened or
endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended.
Red-cockaded
Woodpecker
The Red-cockaded woodpecker ( RCW) has an advanced social system
that revolves around family groups. An RCW group could include one pair of
breeding birds, the current year's offspring (if any), and frequently one or
more male offspring from previous years called helpers. Helpers assist the
breeding pair by incubating eggs, feeding the young, excavating cavities, and
defending the territory. Young females usually disperse after fledging.
Each group of RCWs occupies a discrete territory consisting of a cluster and
adjacent foraging area. The RCW requires mature (usually 80 or more years
old), live pine trees to excavate its nesting and roosting cavities. A
group uses between 1 and 10 cavity trees for nesting and roosting. The
cavity trees are essential to the RCW because they provide shelter and a place
to nest and raise young.
The RCW scales the trunks and limbs of living
pine trees foraging on insects. Each group establishes a territory and
defends it against other RCWs. The foraging area is thought to depend on
the quality of the habitat surrounding the cluster . Scientific research
indicates the birds generally forage within a one-half mile area of the cluster
site. Clusters, once established, are often utilized for many consecutive
years or even decades. Cluster abandonment may occur as a result of
mid-story encroachment, displacement by competing cavity dwellers, or stochastic
events.
Historically, the RCW occupied a wide range
throughout the pine belt of the southern United States. Currently, the
range of the RCW is limited and fragmented. The remaining RCW populations
exist primarily on the national forests extending along the Coastal Plain from
North Carolina to Texas, the Piedmont of Georgia and Alabama, and the interior
highlands of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The number of
active clusters on National Forest lands throughout the current range of the RCW
was reported to be 1,739 active clusters in 1998, which is up from 1,656
reported in 1995. During the same time period the National Forests in
Texas reported 238 active clusters in 1995, and 267 active clusters in 1999.
The RCW populations in the Pineywoods Region of
east Texas occur across a 22- county area in the southeast portion of the State
and presently comprise one designated recovery population on the Sam Houston
National Forest (168 active clusters), and two support populations located on
the Davy Crockett (48 active clusters) and Angelina (30 active clusters)/Sabine
National Forests (20 active clusters). Land ownership patterns throughout
east Texas have effectively served to fragment the east Texas RCW groups into
disjunct and separate subpopulations, even on the National Forests.
Urbanization, agricultural growth, and short
rotation forestry practices on federal as well as private lands have severely
fragmented RCW habitat in the Pineywoods of east Texas. Habitat
fragmentation can result in demographic isolation of cluster sites, resulting in
inadequate interchange of birds between clusters and/or subpopulations to
maintain demographic and genetic viability. Such demographic isolation
usually results in population declines. Abandonment of RCW clusters on
private lands has and continues to result in further fragmentation of the east
Texas Pineywoods populations.
Currently, there are reported to be 267 active
RCW clusters on the National Forests in Texas, and 75 active clusters are known
or suspected on other lands in Texas. Many of the active clusters on other
lands are juxtaposed to National Forest boundaries. The best available
information suggests that groups on non-industrial private lands are declining,
and groups on the National Forests and industrial private lands are stable at
best, and two populations show an increasing trend. Perceived population
stabilization on National Forests is believed to be a direct result of habitat
manipulation involving mid-story removal, artificial cavity provisioning,
augmentation of single birds, and reintroduction of pairs of birds in managed
habitat. For more information regarding RCW recovery efforts,
click here.
It is recommended that any potentially suitable
RCW habitat planned for harvest or thinning be surveyed for the presence /
absence of RCW cavity trees prior to implementation of such activities.
Potentially suitable RCW habitat includes:
Pine
and pine hardwood stands over 60 years of age;
Pine
and pine hardwood stands under 60 years of age containing scattered or
clumped pine trees over 60 years of age;
Hardwood-pine
over 60 years of age adjacent to pine and pine hardwood stands over 30 years
of age; and,
Stands
containing saw timber, including stands thought to be generally less than 60
years of age but containing scattered or clumped trees over 60 years of age.
The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with
others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and
their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.
All images Credit to and Courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service unless specified otherwise.
Pine
and pine hardwood stands over 60 years of age;
Last updated:
November 1, 2012
