This is the question I got asked the most this past weekend. As I mentioned here, I have become accustomed to questions like this. My first answer is studying bird diversity in eucalyptus plantations in southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana. After that I get either confused looks, an "ok", or "Cool. What does that mean?". So I figured I would take the quiet moments I have before the big move to explain a little bit more for those I wasn't able to give an adequate answer to (reasons) or if anyone is curious.
A large paper company is looking into converting land that is currently or has previously been used as pine plantations or crop/pasture land into eucalyptus plantations. Why eucalyptus? Eucalyptus is a super fast growing tree. While most timber industries that use pine wait anywhere from 20-40 years to harvest (cut), eucalyptus can produce the same amount of mass (material) in 7-10 years. This would grant both the land owner (if the industry is buying directly from the land owner) and the industry the same yield (amount) or more in a shorter turn around time. This is great from an industry perspective; same amount of money and product in less time. What's not to like about that?
When you change how an area of land is used there are many factors that come into play that may have an affect on the wildlife in the area. For an example: think of what happens when you build a house. You have to make sure building equipment and the house its self can be put on the area. That entails clearing of vegetation such as trees, bushes, grass, and weeds. You need a foundation for the home which usually means you dig in a spot for this. Trucks and other equipment constantly coming back and forth clear paths and can change the contour or shape of the area you are placing the home. Once all is said and done and the home is built you can sod the area which has now become devoid of grass, let it come back naturally, or even landscape the area to your liking by planting trees and bushes or making flower gardens. What if you planted something that is not native to the area? Will the animals that previously used the area your home is in still use it? Does it still have plants that they like to eat? Does your land still have trees the animals used for homes?
That, in a nutshell, is what I'll be doing. I'll be going to a few places where this large paper industry has already converted pine plantations or crop/pasture areas to eucalyptus and other places where they have not been converted and compare the diversity of the two places. Diversity - what it is and why does it matter?
According to the World English Dictionary, diversity is the state or quality of being different or varied. What does that mean exactly? Think of it this way, what if everyone in the city you live in looked exactly like you did, liked the same kind of food you did, lived in the same kind of home you did...everything about you was multiplied throughout your city or town. Creepy right? There are many different types of habitats that support a multitude of different types of animals. Since I'll be working mainly on birds, I'll use them to extrapolate further. Some birds like to live in high canopies (think the tallest of limbs on a tree), some like to live in the middle, and some like to live on the ground. While this might be where they live they might hunt for food differently. Some, like woodpeckers, like to forage for insets in the bark of trees, some like to get insects off of leaves, some might like berries and seeds that fall to the ground. This is diversity. If you cut out part of the habitat, say you only have semi-tall trees of 10 feet or so, where do those birds go that liked to live in the canopy? Or say you have super tall trees and nothing on the forest floor. Where do those birds go that liked to live there? The short simple answer is they go to where their food is found and if their food is no longer there you loose diversity. But what if we change everything everywhere to where there are only high trees and nothing on the forest floor, then were do those ground loving birds go? This is why diversity matters.
So the next question is - why study birds and not the other animals? Good question! There are a lot of species that are considered indicator species of good quality habitat, meaning if these species are in an area and are thriving then the habitat type is thriving. Simply, birds are easy to monitor. Breeding season starts in early spring and can last until mid-summer. During this time birds are out and about right before the sun rises (dawn chorus) singing their little hearts out looking for a mate and defending their territories. Some are seriously hard to see and identify, but each species has a different song. Again, if their food source is not in the area, that bird most likely will not be heard in that area.
What I think is the most awesome thing about this project is that the large paper company wants to find out what changes would/could occur if they planted these large tracts of eucalyptus BEFORE they actually do it! It is more heard of for studies to do this afterwards once people realize what a big change has taken place or a species drops off the face of a map for good.
I hope this explanation helps and I even hope it gets some of you as excited as it gets me. Please feel free to comment with any questions if you have any and I'll do my best to answer.
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