Upland Sandpiper: A Flagship for Jack Pine Barrens Restoration in the Upper Midwest?

Abstract

Fire-dependent ecosystems have been altered across much of North America, and their restoration has the potential to affect many wildlife species, including those of regional conservation priority such as the upland sandpiper (UPSA, Bartramia longicauda). In the Upper Midwest, fire-dependent jack pine (Pinus banksiana) barrens were once common and are now a focus of restoration by state, federal, and non-government agencies and organizations. Given UPSA’s association with terrestrial ecosystems such as pastures, hayfields, and barrens, we determined the location of UPSA-occupied areas across multiple states, with special focus on Michigan, to illustrate distributional relationships with specific ecoregions, soils, and land covers while considering what role the species may have as a flagship for barrens restoration. With the exception of Michigan, UPSA-occupied areas in all states studied had greater proportions of agricultural land (National Land Cover Data: pasture/hay and cultivated crops) than other openland cover types. In Michigan, 66% of long-term occupied areas were found in the northern Lower Peninsula, and most often consisted of anthropogenic grasslands providing stable habitat on higher-quality soils. In contrast, short-term occupied areas had a greater proportion of native openlands that were often located on poorer, xeric soils associated with jack pine ecosystems that succeed to closed-canopy forests or shrublands in the absence of fire. Openlands with no UPSA breeding evidence were characterized by intensive agriculture (row crops). Our data suggest that UPSA would be an appropriate flagship species for the restoration of jack pine barrens, as well as the conservation of anthropogenic grasslands.