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Best Management Practices for Golden-winged Warbler Habitat in Deciduous Forests of the Great Lakes
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This supplement for Deciduous Forests accompanies Best Management Practices for Golden-winged Warbler Habitats in the Great
Lakes Region, which includes general information that applies to all habitat types in this area. Users should refer to both documents
to develop a comprehensive management strategy for Golden-winged Warbler. The following are guidelines and not absolute
rules for the creation of breeding habitat, thus prescriptions that fall outside the numerical ranges presented can provide habitat,
too. Consult a Golden-winged Warbler or young forest habitat expert for assistance in tailoring a management plan to your property,
and, if available, follow forest management guidelines for your state or province.
Historically, young forest in this region was generated by natural disturbances such as wind, ice, insect outbreaks, flooding, beaver
activity, and fire. Today, much habitat is created through commercial management of deciduous forests, which is the focus of this
habitat guide. Deciduous forest management opportunities exist throughout the Great Lakes on public, private, and tribal lands.
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Golden-Winged Warbler Great Lakes/Canada Fact Sheets
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Best Management Practices for Golden-winged Warbler Habitat on Utility Rights-of-way in the Great Lakes
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Utility ROWs consist of long, linear corridors that are often
managed in a way that can provide habitat for Golden-winged
Warbler and other shrubland birds. Many landscapes within
the Great Lakes region are traversed by extensive and growing
networks of electric transmission lines and gas pipelines (Figure
1), and in some of these the utility corridors are the principal
sites of extensive shrubland habitat. Only a small proportion of
these utility ROWs are managed for Golden-winged Warbler;
therefore, substantial opportunities exist to benefit this species
while still meeting the vegetation management goals of utility
companies and working within acceptable budgets.
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Golden-Winged Warbler Great Lakes/Canada Fact Sheets
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Best Management Practices for Golden-winged Warbler Habitat on Abandoned Farmlands in the Great Lakes
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Since the early 20th century, abandoned farmland has become
an important component of the Great Lakes landscape.
When crop and pasture lands become inactive, they begin
succeeding into their pre-agricultural state, which is often
deciduous forest. The span of time from field to forest takes
decades, during which there is a period of years where the ratio
of herbaceous vegetation, shrubs, and young trees on a given
site can potentially create habitat for breeding Golden-winged Warblers (Figure 1). Without active management, this is a temporary
condition that typically persists for less than a decade.
Throughout the region there is an excellent opportunity, especially on private lands, to create habitat for Golden-winged Warbler
on abandoned farmlands. Perhaps the best opportunities exist on poorly drained soils that are too wet for pasture or crops.
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Golden-Winged Warbler Great Lakes/Canada Fact Sheets
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Best Management Practices for Golden-winged Warbler Habitat in Shrub Wetlands of the Great Lakes
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Shrub wetlands are extensive in the region, particularly in
the western Great Lakes. Not all shrub wetlands are occupied
by Golden-winged Warbler for a variety of reasons including
high water levels, lack of desired woody and herbaceous
vegetation patchiness, lack of scattered canopy trees, and
distance to upland deciduous forest. Dense mature stands of
unbroken woody shrub cover over large areas often are unsuitable.
Reduced flooding and beaver activity may be partially
responsible for these conditions and restoration of these
natural disturbance regimes could improve habitat quality. In
other cases, mechanical treatments provide the mechanism
for creating or restoring breeding habitat (Figure 1) and are
the focus of the included guidelines.
For this insert, shrub wetlands are defined as palustrine
wetlands dominated by broad-leaved deciduous woody vegetation
less than 20 feet tall. The species include true shrubs,
young trees, and scattered trees of varying size. See Table 1
for common dominant shrub and tree species.
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Golden-Winged Warbler Great Lakes/Canada Fact Sheets
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Birds of a Feather on Working Lands
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Storyboard discusses similarities between habitat needs of the Eastern golden-winged warbler and Western sage grouse, both bird species with declining populations due to habitat loss in working landscapes - but benefiting from NRCS Working Lands for Wildlife intervention.
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Bomboy, Kristin
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Expertise Search
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Capture of GWWA on Nonbreeding Grounds
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While studying migratory birds on their Costa Rican wintering grounds in March 2017, associates at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History (RTPI) were able to add some important data to the understanding of Golden-wing Warbler biology. RTPI affiliate Sean Graesser, who was working in a remote rainforest reserve in northeastern Costa Rica with other RTPI staff on a tropical biology course for high school students, captured a gorgeous male Golden-winged Warbler. When he extracted it from the net to collect data and band it, he realized that this bird already had a uniquely numbered band on its leg – a band that Sean had put there himself a year ago! Since the bird was last seen in March of 2016, it had flown to North America – likely somewhere in that upper Great Lakes Region area, possibly nested and raised young against all odds, and returned to Costa Rica to overwinter. This bird looked healthy as could be and was getting ready to make the same trek again – possibly travelling as far as 6,000 miles each year between its breeding and wintering grounds.
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Conservation Choices for Wildlife: Golden-winged Warbler and Other Forest-dependent Species
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This guide outlines seven key conservation practices recommended to forest landowners who want to sustainably manage forests to benefit wildlife and forest health. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and conservation partners work with forest landowners to plan and implement these practices that benefit a variety of species, including the golden-winged warbler. This assistance includes the development of a custom forest management plan as well as financial support to help cover part of the costs of implementing the practices. Technical and financial assistance are available through the Farm Bill, the largest source of federal funding for private lands conservation.
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Golden-Winged Warbler General Fact Sheets
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Decision Support Tools to Inform the Rehabilitation and Management of High Graded Forests
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Abstract
Numerous forests in the eastern United States have been degraded due to past exploitative timber
harvesting known as high grading. High graded forest stands may not improve without active re-
habilitation and may require targeted silvicultural treatments. This study focuses on high graded
mixed-oak (mixed-Quercus spp.) stands and aims to develop a model that can identify past high
grading and to determine modifications that may improve forest management recommendations provided
by the prominent decision support tool, SILVAH. We present a model that uses standard forest
inventory measurements and does not require knowledge of preharvest stand conditions to predict
with moderate to high accuracy whether a stand was high graded, which could be par- ticularly
useful for nonindustrial private forests. Results indicate that modifications to SILVAH may be
necessary to improve its utility for prescribing silvicultural treatments in high graded stands.
Study Implications: High graded forest stands are often not readily apparent and likely require
specific forest management practices. We present a tool that uses standard forest inventory meas-
urements to predict past high grading, which can be used to inform and prioritize forest manage-
ment decisions. We also present suggested modifications to the prominent decision support tool,
SILVAH, that may improve its ability to prescribe optimal silvicultural treatments for high graded
stands. Results from this study provide forestry professionals/landowners working in the mixed- oak
forests of the northeastern United States with tools to inform forest management decisions
that aim to return degraded stands to healthier and more productive states.
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Research
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WLFW Outcomes: Funded Research
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Final Map WLFW GWWA Project Boundary and PACs
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Working Lands for Wildlife: Golden-winged Warbler (GWWA) Project Boundary and Priority Areas for Conservation (PACs).
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