Theses and Dissertations

Advisor

Evans, Kristine

Committee Member

Greene, Daniel

Committee Member

Street, Garrett

Committee Member

Iglay, Raymond

Committee Member

Rush, Scott

Date of Degree

8-7-2025

Original embargo terms

Immediate Worldwide Access

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

Major

Forest Resources

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Forest Resources

Department

Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture

Abstract

The southeastern U.S. is a hot spot for biodiversity, yet we continue to see losses in numerous species and their important ecosystem functions and services. Because private working landscapes are widespread and important to the southeastern U.S. and Mississippi’s economy, we must ensure we are conserving species on these private lands as well. In this project, We examined two groups of taxa, bird and bee communities, each which perform vital ecosystem functions in two of the most spatially dominant systems (working pine forest and row-crop agriculture) in Alabama and Mississippi. We examined bee communities in set-aside hardwood forests at different structural stages of development and determined how local vegetation structure and surrounding crop cover influenced bee richness. We also examined how best management practices within working pine forests influenced movement and space use of priority bird species. The final chapter examined how forest structure and management influenced cross-taxonomic relationships among bird, plant and bee communities. We found that both set-aside hardwood forests in an agricultural matrix and forests that are managed for timber can harbor diverse bird and bee communities. This is prevalent especially during the early-successional stage, as open canopies can provide diverse floral resources, numerous hard and soft mast species, and diverse vegetation structure for nesting bees. Though certain bird species such as Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) may avoid open canopy conditions during the early- to mid-breeding season, selecting for more closed canopy forests. Therefore, best management practices focused on retaining greater amounts of canopy cover may be more beneficial for Wood Thrush. Communities and the strength of connections between species also change as the forest structure and management changes. Additionally, networks among bird, plant, and bee communities are inherently intertwined, and changes or losses to one taxon may have reciprocal changes to other taxa within the network. If we are to better inform sustainable resource management for the conservation of our declining wildlife species, we must ensure that we include these working landscapes in the discussion and look across a variety of different taxa when making management recommendations.

Sponsorship (Optional)

Yes

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