Saturday, November 2

1:00 PM - POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF EASTERN HEMLOCK DECLINE ON BREEDING BIRDS IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS.
D. Aaron Keller and David A. Buehler. Department of Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

The decline of eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) due to hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae), an exotic Homopteran introduced to the eastern U.S. from Japan in the early 1950's, may have impacts on avian populations and communities. Recent detections of HWA infestations in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and other areas of the southern Appalachians highlight the need to better understand the importance of hemlock to breeding birds. Our research has two objectives: 1) model avian associations with eastern hemlock using existing point count data from GSMNP and the U.S. Forest Service to identify avian species associated with eastern hemlock. 2) evaluate the importance of hemlock stands as reproductive sites for Black-throated Blue Warblers, Dark-eyed Juncos, Blue-headed Vireos, Wood Thrush, and Ovenbirds. The study areas for the reproductive aspect of this project are Cataloochee Valley in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Coweeta Long Term Ecological Research Station in Nantahala National Forest, North Carolina. We have collected one field season of data on nest success, bird densities, food availability, rate of parental provisioning of nestlings, microclimate, and vegetation structure and composition on two 15 hectare plots at Cataloochee. One plot is located in an old growth hemlock-dominated stand while the other is in a cove hardwood stand with minimal hemlock. The same data were collected at the Coweeta site on four 15 hectare plots containing varying amounts of second growth hemlock. Data collected over this first field season is currently being compiled and analyzed.

1:25 PM - COMPARING BIRD COMMUNITIES IN NATIVE FORESTS, INDUSTRIAL PINE PLANTATIONS, AND RESIDENTIAL AREAS ON THE SOUTHERN CUMBERLAND PLATEAU, TENNESSEE.
David G. Haskell, Jonathan P. Evans, and Neil W. Pelkey. Department of Biology and Landscape Analysis Lab, University of the South, Sewanee, TN

We examined the effects of conversion of oak-hickory forests to loblolly pine plantations and to residential areas on the abundance and diversity of birds on the Southern Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee. We conducted distance counts of breeding birds in the spring and summer of 2000 and 2001 to establish the association between habitat type and bird populations. Bird diversity was lower at all spatial scales in pine plantations and was higher in residential areas. We combined these data with an eighteen-year GIS record of landuse changes in the region to assess the landscape-level significance of these findings.

1:50 PM - GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT ASSOCIATIONS IN TENNESSEE.
Melinda Welton, Franklin, TN

Tennessee has just completed a Golden-winged Warbler Atlas Project to identify important breeding areas for the species, the range of acceptable habitats and the extent of hybridization between Golden-winged Warblers and Blue-winged Warblers. A total of 62 GWWA sites were found during the Atlas period. Eleven of these sites were in the Southern Blue Ridge and the remainder were on the Cumberland Plateau. Of the 51 sites on the Plateau, 45 were in the Cumberland Mountains of Scott, Campbell and Anderson Counties. Statewide, the most frequently used habitat type was abandoned strip mine sites in the Cumberland Mountains. Of the 203 individual Golden-wings located during the project, 141 were found in the Cumberland Mountains and 132 of these were on strip mine sites. No Blue-winged Warblers and only 3 Brewster's hybrids were found in the Southern Blue Ridge. Half of the lower Cumberland Plateau Golden-winged Warbler sites were shared with either Blue-wings or hybrids. Of the 45 Golden-winged sites in the Cumberland Mountains, 27% were shared with either Blue-wings or hybrids. Of the 17 hybrids encountered during this study, only one was a Lawrence's type hybrid.

2:15 PM - PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF BIRD AND BAT IMPACTS AT BUFFALO MOUNTAIN WINDFARM, EASTERN TENNESSEE.
Jenny Fiedler, Charles Nicholson, Roger Tankersley, and Niki Nicholas, Tennessee Valley Authority, and David Buehler, University of Tennessee

An increased interest in wind energy as an alternative energy source has prompted increased construction of windfarms across the United States. Early studies of bird mortality at windfarms, as well as the history of bird mortality at other types of man-made structures, indicate a need to fully understand the potential environmental impacts of windfarms. The Tennessee Valley Authority's Buffalo Mountain Windfarm in the Cumberland Mountains of Eastern Tennessee provides a unique opportunity to add to understanding this issue, as it is currently the only commercial windfarm in the Southeast. A monitoring program has been in place since the windfarm became operational in October of 2000. Preliminary results estimate both bird and bat mortality rates. In order to put the mortalities into context activity levels and patterns of birds and bats are being assessed with mist-netting, hawk watches, bat detectors, and radar.

2:40 PM - BLOOD PARASITES OF BIRDS.
Raoul Boughton, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN

Tennessee and much of the east coast of the USA are dominated by lush deciduous forests and wetland ecosystems. Consequently these habitats harbour a large variety of biting insects (mosquitoes, black flies and no-see-ums) that have the ability to transfer minute parasitic organisms from one bird to another. As part of my research investigating seasonal reproduction and immunocompetence tradeoffs, I collected blood smears from birds in Memphis, Tennessee, and Archbold Biological Station, Florida over the last year. From these blood smears I have been able to four main groups of blood parasites, Plasmodium, Haemoproteus, Leucocytozoans and filarial worms. The negative effects on the host bird, if any, are poorly understood. My future work will investigate the question "Do birds with blood parasites have lower reproductive output than those that don't?"

3:05 PM - OUR PRECIOUS HERITAGE - PRESERVING TENNESSEE'S DUCK RIVER.
Leslie Colley, Director, The Nature Conservancy's Duck River Project, Columbia, TN

The Duck River is globally significant due to its extraordinary biological diversity; with 50 species of freshwater mussels, 150 species of fish, 22 species of pleurocid snails it is the richest river in North America. The Nature Conservancy is involved in a number of projects on the Duck, ranging from helping to make Columbia's Duck Riverwalk a reality to participating in a collaborative effort dealing with regional water supply issues to a comprehensive stream restoration project on Big Rock Creek in Marshall County.

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