Progress 10/01/08 to 09/30/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: My team collected data and ran experiments on Chickasaw plum in five Oklahoma Counties during 1 October 2008-31 December 2012. We analyzed associated data on optimal methods of establishing plum for wildlife management objectives; use of plum by nesting, summering, wintering, and migrant birds; use of plum by small mammals and effects of burning; and growth rates of plum thickets and stems. We spoke on plum at various events such as the Oklahoma and Texas Chapters of The Wildlife Society. We advised landowners on management of plum, including how to reduce its abundance if that was their goal. Results have been disseminated on the basis of one-on-on contacts. For example, a land manager might e-mail or call wanting to know some particular about plum management. An example is an M.D. from Tulsa who wanted to know how to reduce plum without damaging populations of northern bobwhites. The research information also was disseminated through "Quail News," a newsletter that goes out in spring and fall to land managers primarily in Oklahoma and Texas. PARTICIPANTS: Graduate students: Doug Jobes, Brett Cooper, Adam West, Stacy Dunkin. OSU faculty: Rod Will, Dwayne Elmore, Karen McBee, Steve Hallgren, Sam Fuhlendorf. Collaborators: Selman Ranch, Sutter Ranch, Noble Foundation TARGET AUDIENCES: Biologists working for state and federal wildlife management agencies; landowners and land managers; lay and professional conservationists interested in flora and fauna of the Southern Great Plains. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
This project did not change knowledge but rather created knowledge on the management of plum per se and associated wildlife species. Prior to the results obtained in this study there was no information on optimal methods of establishing plum. This included whether to plant bare-root seedlings or rootstocks and the degree to which cultural practices such as competition control affected the growth and survival of plum plantings. Bare-root seedlings survived at a higher rate than rootstocks and cultural practices showed mixed results. Moreover, the only available information on plum-wildlife relationships was anecdotal before this study. Our results provided a list of bird species that use plum for various activities (e.g., perch, nest, refuge) during seasons of the year. To insure a diversity of bird species, particularly during nesting season, a diversity of plum age-classes is desirable because different species choose nesting substrates of different ages. We also developed occupancy models for small mammals. These models predicted whether a small mammal species would occur in a plum thicket based on the properties of plum and associated vegetation and conditions (e.g., burning). The knowledge we gained potentially has application over the southeastern quarter of the United States and is particularly relevant to the Southern Great Plains.
Publications
- Dunkin, S. W., F. S. Guthery, and R. E. Will. 2008. Growth of Chickasaw plum in Oklahoma. Rangeland Ecology & Management 61:661-665.
- Dunkin, S. W., and F. S. Guthery. 2010. Bird nesting in Chickasaw plum related to age of plum in Oklahoma. American Midland Naturalist 164:151-156.
- Dunkin, S. W., F. S. Guthery, and R. E. Will. 2009. Chickasaw plum: growth and use by nesting birds in Oklahoma. Proceedings of the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society 44:61-2. (Abstract)
- Cooper, B. S., A. N. West, S. W. Dunkin, D. L. Jobes, R. E. Will, R. D. Elmore, K. Gee, and F. S. Guthery. 2011. Chickasaw plum for wildlife in Oklahoma. E-1026. Cooperative Extension Service, Oklahoma State University.
- West, A., R. E. Will, E. Lorenzi, and F. S. Guthery. 2012. Establishing Chickasaw plum for wildlife in northwestern Oklahoma. Wildlife Society Bulletin 36:94-99.
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Progress 10/01/10 to 09/30/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Activities included construction and evaluation of occupancy models for small mammals associated with plum. Occupancy models are used to identify factors associated with the presence or absence of species on small research plots. Data were analyzed and summarized on the effects of fire on sand plum stems and thickets. Finally, original plantings of sand plums were revisited to determine long-term survival; those data were analyzed and prepared for publication. This results of this study and other studies on the ecology of Chickasaw plum were summarized and are available at http://nrem.okstate.edu/Extension/Extension_Pubs/E-1026.pdf. In addition, the pamphlet linked above was distributed at a Quail Forever banquet in Oklahoma City in September 2011. PARTICIPANTS: Doug Jobes, graduate student Sue Selman, landowner collaborator Ken Gee, Noble Foundation Steven Smith, Noble Foundation Sam Fuhlendorf, graduate committee member Karen McBee, graduate committee member TARGET AUDIENCES: Landowners, agency biologists and range managers, lease hunters, and other people interested in wildlife conservation and management in the southern Great Plains. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
The overall plum project dealt with best methods for establishing sand plum, description of the growth rates of plum thickets and stems, seasonal use of plum by birds including nesting, effects of plum on small mammal presence, and effects of fire on the survival and regrowth of stems and thickets. The knowledge gained from these studies will allow the range and wildlife manager on public and private land to better make decisions that will consummate his or her values on the plant and animal products of south-central rangeland. The results of these studies may be used in southwestern Kansas, western Oklahoma, and north Texas.
Publications
- Cooper, B. S., A. N. West, S. W. Dunkin, D. L. Jobes, R. E. Will, R. D. Elmore, and F. S. Guthery. 2011. Chickasaw plum for wildlife in Oklahoma. Cooperative Extension, Oklahoma State University.
- Articles on Chickasaw plum also appeared in Quail News, a newsletter that appears in October and March. 2010. These newsletters are posted and available to anybody at the Bollenbach Chair Website (http://bollenbachchair.okstate.edu).
- Jobes, D. L. 2010. Sand plum in Oklahoma: small mammal occupancy and the acute effects of prescribed fire. M.S. Thesis, Oklahoma State University.
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Progress 10/01/09 to 09/30/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Field work for the report period involved conducting prescribed burns and surveying small mammals with catch-and-release methods in Harper and Love counties, Oklahoma, during spring and summer 2010. Data on the response of sand plum thickets to burning and on small mammal occupancy of sites were analyzed. Presentations on the project were given to the Oklahoma Chapter of The Wildlife Society and to the Bollenbach Advisory Board. Occupancy of Ord's kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ordii), fulvous harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys fulvescens), and northern pygmy mouse (Baiomys taylori) was best predicted by habitat characteristics associated with plum thickets and by plum presence. These characteristics typically included minimal substrate accumulation, high angle of obstruction and visual obstruction estimates, and increased amounts of exposed soil. In contrast, the hispid cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus) and white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) displayed a more general pattern with a high probability of occupancy in open areas and woody cover other than plum. With the exception of the hispid cotton rat and white-footed mouse the results suggest that plum provides an important habitat component to a variety of small mammal species within prairie ecosystems. Thickets with lower pre-burn stem densities were associated with higher levels of percent top-kill (r2 = 0.78; n = 31). No induced mortality was identified for all thickets (n = 31), and all burned thickets returned to their pre-burn area measurements within 1 growing season post-burn. Based on estimates obtained by averaging the mean of multiple samples for each thicket, stem densities increased above pre-burn levels from 5.0/m2 to 10.3/m2 within 2 growing seasons post-burn. Prescribed fire of the intensities observed was not immediately detrimental to sand plum thickets, but caused changes in stem density and understory vegetation composition. PARTICIPANTS: Doug Jobes, graduate student Sue Selman, landowner collaborator Ken Gee, Noble Foundation Steven Smith, Noble Foundation Sam Fuhlendorf, graduate committee member Karen McBee, graduate committee member TARGET AUDIENCES: Landowners, agency biologists and range managers, lease hunters, and other people interested in wildlife conservation and management in the southern Great Plains. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The current project is part of a more comprehensive study on the descriptive ecology of Chickasaw plum in Oklahoma. Previous results have changed knowledge by adding to it. For example, because of previous research we have best practices for establishing sand plum, knowledge of growth rates (area, height, stem diameter) of plum thickets, knowledge of bird species that nest in sand plum and the age of stems they use for nest support, and knowledge of seasonal use of sand plum by migratory and sedentary birds. The current study provided new, empirical information on the species of small mammals that are attracted to or repelled by plum. Also, the study added new knowledge of how sand plum thickets and stems respond to fire. This knowledge translates to changes in actions for landowners and agency personnel who manage or desire to manage sand plum to achieve range management of wildlife objectives.
Publications
- Dunkin, S. W., and F. S. Guthery. 2010. Bird nesting in Chickasaw plum related to age of plum in Oklahoma. American Midland Naturalist 164:151-156.
- Dunkin, S. W., F. S. Guthery, and R. E. Will. 2009. Chickasaw plum: growth and use by nesting birds in Oklahoma. Proceedings of the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society 44:61-62. (Abstract)
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Progress 10/01/08 to 09/30/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Stacy W. Dunkin, M.S. student, completed analyses on the growth of sand plum and use of sand plum by nesting birds. Growth of sand plum thickets was similar in 3 Oklahoma counties at 31 square meters/year. We observed 5 species of birds nesting in plum and inferred 4 species based on nest characteristics. Plum was important nesting substrate for Bell's vireo, a species of conservation concern. Bell's vireos and field sparrows nested on younger stems (average age of 7 years) then other species (average age of 12-15 years). Relatively old (greater than or equal to10 year) stands of sand plum were important for the shrub-nesting guild in north-central Oklahoma. We presented a paper (Bird Nesting in Sand Plum) at the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society meeting in Lubbock, Texas, in February 2009. Doug Jobes, M.S. student, established study areas in Love and Harper counties, Oklahoma, to study the effects of fire on sand plum and occupancy of plum stands by small mammals. In preliminary analyses, the American deer mouse, fulvous harvest mouse, Ord's kangaroo rat, and white-footed mouse were associated with plum thickets whereas the cotton rat and northern pygmy mouse were associated with prairie. We presented "Effects of Chickasaw Plum on Small Mammal Species Occurrence in Oklahoma" at the Oklahoma Chapter of The Wildlife Society meeting in Ardmore in September 2009. PARTICIPANTS: Rodney E. Will, Terrence Bidwell, and R. Dwayne Elmore, Department of Natural Resource Ecology & Management, Oklahoma State University; Steven G. Smith and Kenneth L. Gee, Noble Foundation; Sue Selman, Selman Ranch TARGET AUDIENCES: Wildlife and range managers in southwestern Kansas, western Oklahoma, and north Texas. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Sand plum occurs in the southeastern quarter of the United States and it is the major shrubby component of prairies in the southern Great Plains. Plum may be inimical to ranchers because it competes with livestock forages but on the other hand it provides essential habitat to commercially important (lease hunting) wildlife species such as northern bobwhites and white-tailed deer. Moreover, plum is necessary to maximize diversity of nesting birds in prairie areas; thus, presence of the shrub could help with ecotourism programs. Our results on the growth of stands indicate that the shrub slowly occupies space. For large stands, growth would be virtually imperceptible. Older stands were most important for most nesting birds species so it is important to maintain such stands in plum management programs if diversity in nesting birds is desired.
Publications
- Dunkin, S. W., F. S. Guthery, and R. E. Will. 2008. Growth of Chickasaw plum in Oklahoma. Rangeland Ecology & Management 61:661-665.
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