Jack Pine and the Return of Kirtland's Warbler
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EmailMSU researchers Dr. David Rothstein and Daphna Gadoth-Goodman have been working to sustainably manage jack pine plantations that serve as essential breeding habitat for the Kirtland’s warbler.
MSU researchers Dr. David Rothstein and Daphna Gadoth-Goodman have been working with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MIDNR), US Forest Service (USFS) and US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to sustainably manage jack pine plantations that serve as essential breeding habitat for the Kirtland’s warbler.
The Kirtland’s warbler nests in stands of young jack pine forests in Northern Michigan and Wisconsin; however, once the trees are older than about 20 years, they no longer provide a suitable nesting habitat. The warblers were one of the original species listed when the Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973.
Concerted efforts by MIDNR and USFS to establish a continual supply of new jack pine plantations every year has led to growth in the population from a low of 167 singing males to more than 2,300 today. As a result, the Kirtland’s warbler was removed from the endangered species list in 2019. Nevertheless, this species requires continuous management in order to maintain its population into the future.
“For our state, what we do can make or break whether this species survives or doesn’t." -DAVID ROTHSTEIN
In 2015, Rothstein’s team began working on a new project to create a more economically sustainable approach to managing Kirtland’s warbler habitat. A significant problem with the current approach to habitat management designed in the 1980s is that it has much higher costs, and results in a lower value product, compared to a traditional approach to jack pine silviculture. Timber receipts are instrumental in generating revenue to support habitat creation, but revenue from sales of dedicated Kirtland’s warbler plantations are far less than the costs of establishing new plantations.
Rothstein and Gadoth-Goodman are working on new approaches to jack pine management with the goal of producing more marketable forest products, while still conserving this rare species. “In order to make this sustainable, we have to have a product to sell,” Rothstein said. To do this, the team is experimenting with changing planting densities, changing rotation lengths and pre-commercial thinning after stands age out of suitable nesting habitat.
For MSU Forestry researchers, this has been a unique project because they are dealing with both tree and bird populations and working alongside many other collaborators such as US Department of Agriculture, and MIDNR who are funding their research along with other researchers from Wayne State and Michigan Tech.
The conservation of the Kirtland’s warbler is a unique challenge for Michigan since more than 90% of the known population breeds exclusively in this state. Jack pine forests also provide important habitat for many other plants and animals in addition to the Kirtland’s warbler.
It’s an exciting opportunity and a great responsibility for MSU researchers to sustain the broader ecosystem of jack pine forests and manage the survival of the Kirtland’s warbler. “For our state, what we do can make or break whether this species survives or doesn’t,” says Rothstein.
