USFS - Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Project
Pine-Bluestem Project
Ouachita National Forest
" Pine-bluestem": Shorthand for a habitat dominated by shortleaf pines, bluestem grasses and other native plants.
Pine-bluestem project: An effort by the USDA Forest Service, Ouachita National Forest, to restore approximately 200,000 acres of public forestland to conditions that existed in historical times. These public lands are located in western Arkansas on the Poteau, Cold Springs, and Mena Ranger Districts and on the Oklahoma District.
Purpose of the pine-bluestem project: In historical times pine-dominated forests in western Arkansas (and elsewhere) where often open and park-like appearance. There were mature short-leaf pines, various species of hardwoods, and lush forest floor carpeted with many other species of plants (numerous grasses, wildflowers, shrubs, etc.). There was a thriving population of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, as well as many other species of plants and animals.
Renewal and regeneration of the pine-bluestem ecosystem: Like human communities, short-leaf pine forests must change to survive. Also like human communities, these forests are not all of a single age. A healthy forest must include animals and plants (including trees) of many ages. Regeneration of the pine-bluestem ecosystem includes harvesting selected mature trees, cutting some of the smaller trees that tend to become overcrowded in the forest, and prescribed fire. These young stands of trees are important habitat for Neo-tropical migratory songbirds like Prairie Warblers, Field Sparrows, and Yellow-breasted Chats.
Pine-bluestem project: An effort by the USDA Forest Service, Ouachita National Forest, to restore approximately 200,000 acres of public forestland to conditions that existed in historical times. These public lands are located in western Arkansas on the Poteau, Cold Springs, and Mena Ranger Districts and on the Oklahoma District.
Purpose of the pine-bluestem project: In historical times pine-dominated forests in western Arkansas (and elsewhere) where often open and park-like appearance. There were mature short-leaf pines, various species of hardwoods, and lush forest floor carpeted with many other species of plants (numerous grasses, wildflowers, shrubs, etc.). There was a thriving population of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, as well as many other species of plants and animals.
Renewal and regeneration of the pine-bluestem ecosystem: Like human communities, short-leaf pine forests must change to survive. Also like human communities, these forests are not all of a single age. A healthy forest must include animals and plants (including trees) of many ages. Regeneration of the pine-bluestem ecosystem includes harvesting selected mature trees, cutting some of the smaller trees that tend to become overcrowded in the forest, and prescribed fire. These young stands of trees are important habitat for Neo-tropical migratory songbirds like Prairie Warblers, Field Sparrows, and Yellow-breasted Chats.
Role of Fire
Historically fire played a key role in shaping this open, park-like forest. Fires were caused by lightning, or were set deliberately by either Native Americans or early settlers. They recognized that fire positively affected the plants and animals within the ecosystem. For example, animals that needed grass seeds or grasses for forage or cover benefited from fires that encouraged lush growths of herbaceous plants. Modern research within the pine-bluestem project area supports the ideas held by these earlier Ouachita inhabitants. The Forest Service uses prescribed fire as an indispensable tool in ecosystem renewal.
Today "prescribed burns" rotated in mature pine stands advance pine reproduction and help create diverse herbaceous understory/groundstory. Rotational burns have occurred since the late 1970's to establish regeneration of the short leaf pine and various hardwoods while producing a lush forest floor for a greater diversity of herbaceous species to support more wildlife.
Today "prescribed burns" rotated in mature pine stands advance pine reproduction and help create diverse herbaceous understory/groundstory. Rotational burns have occurred since the late 1970's to establish regeneration of the short leaf pine and various hardwoods while producing a lush forest floor for a greater diversity of herbaceous species to support more wildlife.
Red-cockaded Woodpecker (RCW)
The most well known animal of this ecosystem is also a species of conservation concern, known as the RCW. It became very rare throughout the Southeastern U.S. because of the extensive cutting of old growth pine forests a century ago, and subsequent widespread suppression of the fires that had originally shaped the ecosystem. Without fire, it was virtually impossible for the forest to regenerate into an ecosystem that could support many native species.
The population of RCW's on the Ouachita National Forest is gradually increasing. Forest Service personnel use many techniques for RCW recovery, including installation of cavity insert nest and roost boxes, banding, and translocation of individual RCW's to the Ouachita's from areas like Texas where the birds are relatively more numerous. The Red-cockaded Woodpecker nests only in live pines. But, it often selects ones that are infected with the red heart fungus. The fungus softens the wood and allows the woodpecker to dig out a cavity. The live pine tree then "bleeds" pitch around the nest hole. The heavy flow of gum helps keep tree-climbing snakes away from the nest. |
      |
Pollinators, Native Plants and Wildflowers
Pollinators visit flowers in their search for food (nectar and pollen). During a flower visit a pollinator may accidentally brush against the flower's reproductive parts, unknowingly depositing pollen from a different flower. The plant uses the pollen to produce a fruit or seed. Many plants cannot reproduce without pollen carried to them by foraging pollinators.
WHO ARE POLLINATORS? Butterflies and Moths Birds and Bats Beetles and Other Insects These beautiful plants found in the pine-bluestem ecosystem and are important to the pollinators who visit them for food. Wildlife forage on many of the native plants found throughout the bluestem forest floor. Certain insects once known to be rare are making a return to the pine-bluestem area such as: Diana fritillary (as seen on bottom middle picture), the largest and showiest butterfly you're likely to see in western Arkansas. This butterfly requires open forest conditions favorable to many native plants, including coneflowers and butterfly weed. These open conditions are also optimal for RCW's, bobwhite quail, and many songbirds. |
            |
Educational information provided in part by US Forest Service, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Audubon Arkansas, and Native Expeditions.
