A complex stand on the white river national wildlife refuge: implications for bottomland hardwood old growth

Abstract

With the possible re-discovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis), interest has increased in the habitat requirements for the species and the current state of these habitats (Fitzpatrick et al. 2005). Tanner (1942) indicated that the ivory-billed woodpecker needs large, decadent trees for foraging. Trees in such decline provide habitat for woodboring beetles, whose grubs are a primary food-source for the ivory-billed woodpecker. Old trees in various states of decline are an integral part of old-growth forests (Davis 1996, Oliver and Larson 1996). Unfortunately, we have little information on the species composition and structure of bottomland hardwood old-growth forests, especially in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the species composition of a potential old-growth bottomland hardwood stand located in east-central Arkansas near the possible sightings and recordings of the ivory-billed woodpecker.

Citation

Lockhart, Brian Roy; Kellum, Jamie E. 2006. A complex stand on the white river national wildlife refuge: implications for bottomland hardwood old growth. Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 60: 181-186