What distinguishes a forest, woodland, and savanna? How does wildlife and plant diversity differ between them? How do we restore woodlands and savannas? Join Jarred as he talks with Dr. Andy Vander Yacht about his research into restoring oak woodlands and savannas and the wildlife that thrive within in.

This is a two-part series. In part 1, we discuss the historical context of forests, woodlands, and savannas in the eastern US, and Andy’s research into how fire and thinning influence plant composition and diversity.

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Research & Resources discussed in the episode

Dr. Andy Vander Yacht - https://www.esf.edu/faculty/vander_yacht/index.php

Vegetation response to canopy disturbance and season of burn during oak woodland and savanna restoration in Tennessee - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112716311513

Litter to glitter: promoting herbaceous groundcover and diversity in mid-southern USA oak forests using canopy disturbance and fire - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s42408-020-00072-2

Reversing Mesophication Effects on Understory Woody Vegetation in Mid-Southern Oak Forests - https://academic.oup.com/forestscience/article/65/3/289/5232699

Restoration of oak woodlands and savannas in Tennessee using canopy-disturbance, fire-season, and herbicides - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112717307776

Fuel dynamics during oak woodland and savanna restoration in the Mid-South USA - https://www.publish.csiro.au/wf/wf18048

Webinar: Litter to glitter: releasing the herbaceous groundlayer potential stored in oak forest floors - https://vimeo.com/493748345

Ahead of a forthcoming mini-series on forest management for birds, Adam and Jarred discuss a paper reviewing the state of the science examining bird responses to forest management in the eastern U.S. The paper published last year by Michael Skresh and colleagues presents a compelling case for the importance of managed disturbances in eastern forests to benefit birds of conservation concern. Jarred also foreshadows some conversations he has planned in the coming episodes.

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Research & Resources discussed in the episode

Here's the paper we discussed: Akresh, Michael E., David I. King, Savannah L. McInvale, Jeffery L. Larkin, and Anthony W. D'Amato. 2023. “ Effects of Forest Management on the Conservation of Bird Communities in Eastern North America: A Meta-Analysis.” Ecosphere 14(1): e4315. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4315

Here’s a paper Adam’s written about forest management for birds: https://store.extension.iastate.edu/Product/15963 h

Here’s the episode we mentioned with Marcus Lashley and fire disturbance regimes: https://habitatuniversity.libsyn.com/episode-03-aldos-tools-getting-creative-with-prescribed-fire

In this episode we talk with Dr. Mark McConnell, Assistant Professor of Upland Birds at Mississippi State, about wildlife conservation in agricultural landscapes and his research into creating win-win solutions for wildlife and agricultural producers. We cover a variety of topics in this episode from reacting to Adam’s new mustache, Mark’s use of memes to help wildlife student engage with farmers, and using precision conservation to delivery economically targeted conservation.

Themes in the episode: meeting farmer where they are, building your conservation team, economics and Precision Agricultural/Conservation. Targeted Conservation Delivery, Economically Targeted Conservation, Wildlife-Friendly Farming

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Research & Resources discussed in the episode

Research on who farmers trust when making decisions about agricultural practices - https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/FNR/fnr-488-w.pdf

Bridging the gap between conservation delivery and economics with precision agriculture (McConnell 2021) - https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wsb.995

Economically targeting conservation practices to optimize conservation and net revenue using precision agriculture tools (Meng et al. 2022) - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11119-022-09890-7

Farming and the fate of nature (Green et al. 2005) - https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1106049

Wildlife-friendly farming benefits rare birds, bees and plants (Pywell et al. 2012) - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22675140/

Crop Advisors as Conservation Intermediaries (Eanes et al. 2019) - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837718310238

Creating Environmentally Resilient Agriculture Landscapes Using Precision Agriculture Technology: An Economic Perspective (McConnell 2019) - https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/bk-2019-1334.ch007

CRP Menu Tool - https://crpmenu.gri.msstate.edu/