This paper will summarize existing knowledge on natural disturbance regimes of major forest types in the northeastern United States.  Particular focus will be on the rate at which new patches of early successional vegetation are created.  Available data will be presented on disturbance intervals, range of disturbance intensity, disturbance effects on forest species composition, and size distribution of disturbance patches.  Additionally, disturbance regimes will be compared in four major forest types: northern hardwoods, spruce-fir, pine forests, and oak forests.  Possible causal factors that explain differences in disturbance regimes among habitats and geographic locations will be examined, which may help interpret similar patterns from other temperate forests of the world.

Craig Lorimer is Professor of Silviculture and Forest Ecology at the Department of Forest Ecology and Management, University of Wisconsin, Madison.  His principal areas of research include forest stand dynamics, natural disturbance regimes and methodology, disturbance effects on forest composition and structure, forest stand modeling, ecology and management of mixed-species forests, effects of forest management on biological diversity,

The importance of incorporating a historical perspective into the interpretation and management of modern landscapes and ecological process will underscore this paper.  Major topics will include an evaluation of the distribution, abundance, and environmental characteristics of early-successional forests, shrublands, grasslands, and heathlands in prehistoric times in relation to natural disturbances (especially fire and wind) and human activity.  Changes in the abundance of these communities through the historical period to the present will be based on extensive paleoecological, historical, and conservation studies in Cape Cod, the Islands and Long Island; the Connecticut Valley; and the New England Uplands.  Contemporary management options for the maintenance and restoration of these communities should include a historical perspective.

David Foster is Director of the Harvard Forest, Harvard University where he has been a faculty member in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology since 1983.  His interests focus on understanding the changes in forest ecosystems that result from human and natural disturbance processes and applying these results to the conservation and management of natural resources.  He currently serves on the boards of the Temperate Ecosystem Directorate of the U.S. Man and the Biosphere Program, Conservation Research Foundation, and Highstead Arboretum as well as the editorial boards of Ecosystems and Northeastern Naturalist.

Forest land is the predominant land cover of the northeastern United States, and these forests have been periodically surveyed by the USDA Forest Service since the late 1940s.  The surveys show that the area of early-successional forests has declined precipitously since the first surveys were conducted.  Land ownership patterns, social attitudes towards even-aged silviculture, and a low profile forest industry in the region preclude the use of extensive timber harvesting to maintain early-successional forest habitats.  The loss of these habitats are the major cause of declines in many early-successional wildlife species.

Robert Brooks has been with the U. S. Forest Service since 1977.  He worked with the Forest Inventory and Analysis section, assessing wildlife resources in the northeastern United States.  Currently, he is assigned to a wildlife research unit where his research is focused on the ecology and management of ephemeral forest pools.

Shrublands are often thought of as just a stage in ecological succession among forests.  Yet some shrublands may persist for as long as some mature forests.  Positive feedbacks may be the key.  Some shrubs alter the environment in ways that favor their own ability to persist and reproduce while making the site less hospitable to the establishment of forest trees.  Early successional species, at least some of them, do the opposite, changing the environment in ways that hinder their own ability to persist by making the site more hospitable to species that outcompete them.  A developing hypothesis will be described that suggests the processes that sustain shrublands in the Northeast may include fire, frost pockets, soil hardpans, soil acidification, nitrogen sequestration, and allelopathy.  Positive feedbacks may account for shrubland persistence only if dominant shrub species increase these processes to the greater detriment of their potential competitors than to themselves.  The majority of shrubland species, including numerous rare plants, need not be active in such positive feedbacks to benefit from them.

Roger Latham is a forest ecologist and conservation biologist.  He collaborates with academic ecologists on basic research, and conducts research on restoration ecology and planning as a consultant for The Nature Conservancy, Natural Lands Trust, and other wildland management organizations.  For the past 10 years, much of his research has focused on ecosystems in which certain plants alter wildfire behavior and soil nutrients, apparently to their own benefit.  His studies highlight the widespread need for human intervention in conserving biodiversity, to restore disturbance regimes and landscape structure altered by human activities.

State and federal lists of rare and endangered terrestrial invertebrates in the Northeast are dominated by species associated with early-successional habitats.  Two community types with especially high numbers of regionally threatened taxa include pitch pine-scrub oak barrens and sand plain grasslands. Moreover, it is evident that present lists woefully underrepresent the actual numbers of imperiled taxa in these ecosystems.  Shrub-dominated habitats known to contain rare invertebrates in New England: pitch-pine scrub oak barrens, heathlands and other maritime shrublands, scrub oak-heath balds, and shrub swamps will be reviewed  This paper will conclude with a discussion of management concerns relevant to these ecosystems. 

David Wagner is an Associate Professor of Ecology at the University of Connecticut.  He has worked in invertebrate conservation for more than a decade. He is a past director of the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History and presently serving as a Co-director Center for Conservation Biology and Biodiversity at the University of Connecticut.  His research interests in invertebrate conservation have included studies on captive breeding protocols for the regal fritillary, non-target impacts of Bacillus thuringiensis, and the preservation of sand plain grasslands in the Connecticut River Valley.

This paper will review the status of birds dependent on early-successional habitats and conservation efforts toward these species in the Northeast.  Four primary topics will be covered.  A review of recent population trends of shrubland birds in the Northeast and across their ranges.  A summary of how shrubland birds contribute to avian diversity (e.g., species diversity, abundance, and diversity of habitats occupied).  A comparison will be made of current levels of conservation concern and management needs among birds associated with different successional stages (e.g., grasslands, shrublands, and mature forest), and a discussion about whether the current level of concern for shrubland birds is consistent with their conservation needs. Suggestions will be made for identifying the conditions when it is appropriate to manage lands in the Northeast for the benefit of shrubland birds compared to birds associated with other successional stages.

Randy Dettmers is a regional nongame bird biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Hadley, Massachusetts.  He has conducted research on the effects of forest fragmentation on avian reproductive success, modeling bird-habitat relationships, and mate choice selection in passerine birds.  He currently works on developing and implementing monitoring and conservation plans for birds of conservation concern in the northeastern United States.

The majority of mammals that occupy the Northeast utilize resources from several habitats on a daily or seasonal basis.  However, a few (e.g., lagomorphs) are obligate users of early-successional forests and shrubland habitats, and the specialist carnivores that prey on them are consequently also obligate users of these habitats.  The facultative or opportunistic users of early-successional forest and shrubland habitats depend on them to varying degrees, and in many circumstances they benefit disproportionately when such habitats are available to them.  Historical and contemporary human-related changes in the landscapes of the Northeast, including the extirpation of some mammal species, have affected both the community structure of mammals and our ability to clearly understand the consequences of future forest management.

Todd Fuller is Professor of Wildlife Ecology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.   His research has included investigations of black bears, fishers, white-tailed deer, and carnivores communities throughout the U.S. and internationally.

In recent decades, conservationists have recognized the need to maintain a variety of habitats to sustain regional biological diversity.  However, there has been considerable discussion on the amount, configuration, and distribution of specific habitats in contemporary landscapes.  The use of baseline levels of abundance (e.g., pre Columbian conditions) seems to offer an objective approach to deciding if certain habitats are in short supply.  This paper will examine the utility of this approach and the considerations for determining the “appropriate” baseline for comparison.  The circumstances where and when the application of baseline conditions may not be appropriate also will be discussed.

John Litvaitis is Professor of Wildlife Ecology at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.  He has conducted research on the habitat needs of a variety of species.  For the past 10 years, John has investigated the response of terrestrial vertebrates to the reduction in early-successional forests in the northeastern United States.

The relative merits of even-aged and uneven-aged timber management in providing early successional habitats in a forested landscape will be discussed.  Size and frequency of silvicultural treatments, and site factors that relate to the time that treatments provide suitable habitat will be described for public and private lands.

Richard DeGraaf is leader of the U.S. Forest Service Wildlife Habitat Research Unit, Northeastern Research Station, in Amherst, Massachusetts.  He has been conducting research on wildlife habitat relationships for 30 years, and for the past 20 years has studied the habitats of forest birds, small mammals, and amphibians in the White Mountains.  He has published numerous scientific papers and eight books, including New England wildlife: habitat, natural history, and distribution and New England wildlife: management of forested habitats (1992).

Long scorned as wastelands, pitch pine-scrub oak barrens are now recognized as unique natural communities that support a variety of rare plants, insects, and vertebrates.  Urban and suburban expansion in the last century has resulted in the permanent loss of a substantial proportion of these barrens.  Fire suppression is degrading those that remain.  History studies show that it is not only the lack of fire, but the loss of severe fires in particular that is resulting in encroachment of tolerant hardwoods and conifers in the remaining barrens. The challenges facing conservationists that hope to restore and maintain barrens are discussed.  Prescribed fires are an effective tool to maintain barrens, but it is difficult to duplicate the effects of severe wildfires.  The use of a combination of mechanical treatments and controlled summer burns may provide a useful alternative to restoration of degraded barrens.

William Patterson is Professor of Fire Ecology and Management in the Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  He currently teaches courses in forest ecology and measurements, fire control, and fire management.  Bill has served as an instructor for The Nature Conservancy's Basic and Advanced Ecological Burning Workshops.  His research includes studies of the fire history of northwest Alaska and New England and is currently investigating the role of fire in managing North Atlantic pine-oak forests and barrens.  For his work in implementing prescribed fire, Bill received The Nature Conservancy's President's Stewardship Award.

This paper will summarize the decline of successional habitats in the northeastern United States, focusing on New York.  In contrast, high voltage utility corridors provide 120,000 of acres of managed shrubland in New York alone. These corridors support a high density of shrubland birds that are declining elsewhere.  Surveys also reveal high nesting success on corridors, suggesting that these habitats may offset some of the recent losses of native shrublands and young forests.

John Confer is Associate Professor of Animal Ecology and Environmental Management at  Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York.  His research of birds began with observations of golden-winged and blue-winged warblers. Twenty-five years later, it is clear that the dramatic change in range and abundance of both species is partially due to regional changes in shrubland habitats. golden-winged and blue-winged Warblers have become symbols for the shrubland guild and John’s interest in management for these two species has led to an interest in management for all shrublands.

This paper will discuss the biology and invasiveness of selected non-indigenous species in northeastern forests, particularly those that are being actively managed.  The biological characteristics that make species problematic will be covered, as well as information about their history of arrival, distribution, habitat  preferences, abundance, and prevalence on the landscape.  Management methods and concerns also will be discussed for selected plant species. 

Paul Somers has been the State Botanist with the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program in the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife since 1992.   Prior to that he held a similar position for 15 years with the Ecological Services Division of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.  He is a member of the Massachusetts Invasive Plant Working Group, its Plant Evaluation Subcommittee and is a co author of  A Guide to Invasive Plants in Massachusetts.

Conservation and protection of wetlands, agricultural lands, and late successional forests have been championed by numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the Northeast.  Several of these conservation campaigns have been successful in slowing the decline of these habitats or raising public awareness of the importance of these habitats.  Few non-governmental conservation groups focus on early-successional habitats, however.  The limited advocacy for early-successional habitats takes various forms: private groups managing their own lands; private groups raising public awareness for the need for early-successional habitats through landowner demonstrations and education; and by private groups advocating for the creation of such habitats on public lands.

Scot Williamson, is Northeast Field Representative for the Wildlife Management Institute, a private, nonprofit, scientific and educational organization dedicated to the restoration, sound management, and wise use of natural resources in North America. Prior to WMI, Scot served as Big Game Program Director for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Deer Project Leader for New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. 

Early-successional habitats and wildlife associated with them have been dramatically declining throughout the northeastern United States for several decades.  This paper will focus on what the state wildlife agencies within the region are doing to stem these declines.  Emphasis will be placed on programs that fund or administer habitat projects on public and private lands with specific project examples, and efforts to educate private landowners and other constituents on the importance of these habitats and how to manage them.

James Oehler has coordinated the Upland Habitat Management Program of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife for the last four years.  This program focuses on creating and maintaining early-successional habitats across the state on both public and private lands.

In light of the decline of thicket habitats, efforts have been implemented by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as well as by state and federal agencies to ensure that species associated with these habitats remain viable.  A combination of education, financial incentives and on-the-ground management have been used to accomplish this goal.  This paper will discuss existing programs and additional opportunities to promote thicket habitats.  The Coverts Project, found in most northeastern states, is a state-federal-NGO partnership that illustrates how private landowners can increase the abundance of early-succesional habitats.  Details of this and other cost-sharing programs will be summarized.

Darrel Covell joined the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension in January 2001.  Prior to this, he was the Executive Director of the New Hampshire Wildlife Federation and served as the Wildlife Outreach Specialist for University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension where he coordinated the Wisconsin Coverts Program, a wildlife habitat management and outreach program for private landowners. 

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