The impact of Whitebark Pine mortality on Clark's Nutcracker demography:

The Impact of Whitebark Pine Mortality on Clark's Nutcracker Demography and Habitat Use

Taza Schaming Cornell University

The Story

Whitebark Pines Clark’s Nutcrackers Taza’s research

Whitebark Pines (WBP)

• Live in treeline & subalpine communities • Tolerate poor soils, steep slopes, strong winds • Pioneer species & nurse trees • Can live > 1,000 years • Keystone species

Disturbed area where Whitebark Pine is growing

Biotic Zones

Indicator Species

= A species that is typically found in a specific environment.

= Often (but not always) a species that is very sensitive to problems in the environment (e.g. pollution).

*Like a canary in a coal mine.

Whitebark Pine cone: high fat high protein

Adaptations

Keystone Species

= A species that plays a critical role in it’s ecological community, which has a disproportionate effect on its environment relative to it’s abundance. Bear scat full of Whitebark Pine seed coats

Eat Whitebark Pine seeds:

Wildlife using WBP

110+ species

Grizzly & Black Bears (Ursus arctos horribilis & Ursus americanus) Pine Squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) Clark’s Nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) Golden-mantled ground squirrels (Spermophilus lateralis) Chipmunks (Eutamias spp.) Hairy and white-headed woodpeckers (Picoides villosus and P. albolarvatus), Williamson’s sapsucker (Sphyrapicus thyroideus), Mountain chickadee (Parus gambeli), White- and red-breasted nuthatches (Sitta carolinensis and S. Canadensis), Steller’s jay (Cyanocitta stelleri), Raven (Corvus spp.), Pine grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator), Cassin’s finch (Carpodacus cassinii) and more!

Eat Whitebark Pine buds & needles & roost in crown of tree:

Blue grouse (Dendragapus obscurus)

Nest in Whitebark Pine Snags:

Mountain bluebirds (Sialia currucoides) Northern flickers (Colaptes auratus)

Whitebark pine cone crops impact the behavior & populations of grizzly bears

Whitebark pine is an obligate mutualist of Clark’s Nutcrackers!

• • • Mutualism: a relationship between two organisms in which both individuals benefit (i.e. derive a fitness benefit such as increased survivorship) from the interaction. Obligate mutualism: A type of mutualism in which one species cannot survive without the other species. Whitebark pines COMPLETELY DEPEND on Clark’s Nutcrackers for regeneration; the trees need the birds to cache & plant their seeds so that new trees can grow.

Distribution

Whitebark Pines are Important: perform important ecosystem services -Slow snowmelt: decrease spring flooding, decrease summer droughts -Decrease erosion -Promote post-fire forest regeneration & facilitate succession -Provide food for wildlife, shelter, nesting sites

Whitebark pine distribution

*10-15% of total forest cover in Northern Rockies (until recent mortality)

But…Whitebark Pines are Declining Rapidly

1. Suppression of fire 2. Mountain Pine Beetles 3. White Pine Blister Rust

Fire Suppression

Mountain Pine Beetle Infestation

Trees killed by Pine Beetle:

>2.5 mill ac. W. USA (‘05) & >40 mill ac. W. Canada (‘08)

Coevolution

= A change in the genetic composition of one species (or group) in response to a genetic change in another = Reciprocal evolutionary change in interacting species

Mountain Pine Beetle

Total acres with NEWLY KILLED whitebark pine each year (1998-2007 ADS) in California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming.

Whitebark Pine Health

Blister Rust

Invasive Species

= A species that is non-native to the ecosystem whose introduction causes (or probably will cause) environmental or economic harm or harm to human health. *Can be plants, Animals, fungi, bacteria, etc.

Habitat

Habitat = the ecological or environmental area in which an organism lives Habitat destruction/decline/degradation = the process in which a habitat is changed to the point where it is functionally unable to support species which used to live there.

Consequences of Loosing Whitebark Pine Wildlife Food Watershed hydrology (droughts, floods) Successional processes Grizzly bear - human encounters

Nutcracker populations accelerated WBP losses

Homogenization of subalpine ecosystems Impaired aesthetic & recreational values

Whitebark Pine Conservation & Management

- Prescribed fires - Silvicultural thinning - Plant rust resistant WBP seedlings - Anti-aggregate pheromones (individual trees) *We will need NUTCRACKERS to take back over!

Don’t Move Firewood!

Clark’s Nutcrackers

• Passerine • ~100-150g (bigger than a robin) • Monomorphic = both sexes look the same • Loud caws (like crows) • Long-lived (max 17 yrs) • Predators (birds of prey)

Clark’s Nutcrackers Spotted Nutcracker

(Nucifraga caryocatactes)

American Crow

(Corvus brachyrhynchos)

Siberian Jay

(Perisoreus infaustus)

RANGE MAP

Clark’s Nutcracker

Year-round residents Montane ecosystems Coniferous forests • • • Diet Primarily fresh & stored pine seeds Insects Carrion, small mammals, berries, other fruits • • • • Morphology, behavior & annual cycle tied to specialized diet Sublingual pouch Long, sharp bill Excellent spatial memory Male & female incubation patch F

Ecosystem

= A biological community and its physical environment.

Nutcracker diet varies geographically & seasonally • • • • • • • • • •

Whitebark pine Limber Ponderosa Douglas fir

Single-leaf pinon Colorado pinon Great Basin bristlecone Rocky Mountain bristlecone Jeffrey Pine Southwestern white pine

Clark’s Nutcracker

• • • Each bird Harvests and caches ~ 35,000 whitebark pine seeds/year In ~7,700 separate caches, and Flies ≤ 32.6 km to cache seeds.

Seed Transport Flight (7 CLNU)

Lorenz 2009

Clark’s Nutcracker Flying

Teresa Lorenz

Home Range

= Area which an animal lives and travels in.

To determine an individual’s home range: (1) Map where the animal is over a period of time via radio tracking or mapping visual observations.

(2) Draw a polygon around the points.

Clark’s Nutcrackers

BREED(?) FLEDGE (?) EAT CACHED SEEDS EAT UNRIPE SEEDS & INSECTS CACHE WHITEBARK PINE SEEDS, EAT & CACHE OTHER PINE SEEDS

Breeding Season

Lorenz ‘09

Cascading effects

Whitebark pines (in N Rockies) Local nutcracker populaton Nutcrackers seed dispersal regeneration

Clark’s Nutcracker

Anecdotally declining in: *Cascades Range, Washington *Glacier National Park, Montana But, we don’t know for sure because we don’t have a good survey method for these birds.

How do we survey nutcrackers?

CBC, WY 1920-2010 (WY) 0.02/hr = 1bird/50 hrs

There is very little known about Clark’s Nutcrackers Lorenz ‘09 Lorenz ‘09

Clark’s Nutcracker: lots of unknowns

Population Dynamics

What is their population status?

Is it stable ?

Is it changing due to the decline of whitebark pine?

Movement Patterns

Which habitats do they use?

What if the size of adult home ranges & breeding territories in different areas?

Do they have high fidelity to breeding territories, summer & winter ranges?

How far do juveniles disperse from their natal territory?

Clark’s Nutcracker: lots of unknowns

Breeding Biology

What is average reproductive success?

Are they cooperative breeders?

Social System

Is there delayed dispersal?

What is the flock composition & variation throughout the year?

Taza’s Research

1) Research Objectives 2) Study Site 3) Methods

Overall Objective

Determine how the decline of Whitebark Pine is impacting Clark’s Nutcrackers in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Objectives

1. How to survey Clark’s Nutcrackers?

2. Which habitats do Clark’s Nutcrackers use in the region (breeding & summer home range)?

3. How necessary is whitebark pine as a food source for nutcracker persistence in this region?

Objectives

5. What habitat variables impact reproductive success?

6. What is the CLNU social system?

7. Is the social system being impacted by the habitat loss?

8. Make management recommendations!

Taza’s Study Site: Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem

Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem:

*850,000 ac WBP-dominated stands

Mortality (as of 2009):

Methods (2009-2013)

1) Occupancy Surveys 2) Habitat Surveys 3) Radio tracking 4) Behavior Watches

1. How to survey CLNU?

Detectability

Observed presence BIASED by imperfect detectability!

OR Do repeat sampling.

Detectability (p)

N = 10 N = 10

Observed N = 10 p = 100% Observed N = 5 p=50%

Habitat Surveys at Each Point

2009 Occupancy Surveys

Habitat Surveys -Cone Counts -Belt Transects -Point Quarter Occupancy Surveys *48 pts on 8 transects * Encounter history: e.g. 000, 010, 101

Statistics are carried out in R

Occupancy is examined to see if it changes with # cones/ha Importance of WBP Density of Trees (trees/ha) Season Detectability is examined to see if it changes with Density Trees (trees/ha) Season

2. Which habitats do nutcrackers use?

*Radio track individuals *Determine home range *Compare habitat w/in home range w/ larger region *Evaluate proportional habitat use w/in home range

Overlay GIS maps with Home Ranges

3. How necessary is whitebark pine for nutcracker persistence here?

*Behavior watches & radio track

Trapping Clark’s Nutcrackers

Teresa Lorenz

Radio tracking

Radio tracking

5. What habitat variables impact reproductive success?

What is the CLNU social system?

& Is the social system being impacted by the habitat loss?

Color-band individuals in flocks and family groups (parents and young) to see if individuals stay in the same flocks, and if young delay dispersal.

Collect blood to carry out paternity analyses to determine relatedness of individuals in flocks.

Compare differences in different habitats.

Make management recommendations

Ex1. Maintain specific conifer habitats other than whitebark pine. Ex2. Maintain specific minimum size of whitebark pine stands.

Whitebark Pines are important!

Whitebark Pines need Clark’s Nutcrackers to survive!

Conserving Clark’s Nutcrackers is important not just for the birds but for the entire Whitebark Pine ecosystem!

Acknowledgements

Thank you

Advisor: Janis Dickinson Special Committee: André Dhondt, Evan Cooch, John Fitzpatrick Dept. of Natural Resources & Lab of Ornithology students & faculty Bridger-Teton National Forest Wyoming Game and Fish, Susan Patla Jackson Hole Bird Club

Funding

Cornell Lab of Ornithology Cornell Sigma Xi Explorers Club Fischer Skis Havahart Samuel and Linda Kramer Mellon Foundation Charles Redd Center Wilson Ornithological Society NASA Athena Fund of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Western Bird Banding Association Meg and Bert Raynes Wildlife Fund

The Garden Club of America

American Philosophical Society