SPRING BURNING - RESULTING AVIAN ABUNDANCE AND NESTING IN KANSAS CRP

Spring burning is used to control invasion by woody vegetation of rang elands in eastern Kansas and also of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP ) fields planted to native grasses. We measured the effects of spring burning of CRP fields on vegetation structure and avian populations in northeastern Kansas during the summers of 1992 through 1995. Several vegetation characteristics differed between burned and unburned CRP fi elds in May,but few differed in July. Mean avian abundance on burned C RP fields was 5.6 birds km(-1) of survey transect, significantly less (P < 0.01) than the 8.6 km(-1) on unburned fields. The avian-assemblag es on burned and unburned fields differed more in May/June [Morisita's Index to Similarity (MIS) = 0.86] than in June/July or July/August (M IS = 0.98 and 0.97, respectively). Avian species richness ranged from 12 to 21 on burned fields and from 10 to 19 on unburned fields. A tota l of 27 nests was found on burned fields, significantly less (P < 0.01 ) than the 372 found on unburned fields. The 22.2% nesting success on burned fields was not significantly different (P = 0.205) than the 34. 1% success on unburued fields. Spring burning reduced bird-nest number s in the summer of the same year, but did not reduce significantly (P = 0.235) the number of nests found in those fields the following summe rs nor the abundance of birds or nesting success. Avoidance of annual burning would reduce adverse impacts on bird populations relying on CR P fields for nesting habitat.