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Measuring the effects of ecological restoration on wildlife assemblages requires study on broad temporal and spatial scales. Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forests are imperiled due to fire suppression and subsequent invasion by hardwood trees. We employed a landscape‐scale, randomized‐block design to identify how reptile assemblages initially responded to restoration treatments including removal of hardwood trees via mechanical methods (felling and girdling), application of herbicides, or prescribed burning alone. Then, we examined reptile assemblages after all sites experienced more than a decade of prescribed burning at two‐ to thee‐year return intervals. Data were collected concurrently at reference sites chosen to represent target conditions for restoration. Reptile assemblages changed most rapidly in response to prescribed burning, but reptile assemblages at all sites, including reference sites, were generally indistinguishable by the end of the study. Thus, we suggest that prescribed burning in longleaf pine forests over long time periods is an effective strategy for restoring reptile assemblages to the reference condition. Application of herbicides or mechanical removal of hardwood trees provided no apparent benefit to reptiles beyond what was achieved by prescribed fire alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecological restoration of fire‐suppressed habitats may require a multifaceted approach. Removal of hardwood trees together with reintroduction of fire has been suggested as a method of restoring fire‐suppressed longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forests; however, this strategy, although widespread, has not been evaluated on large spatial and temporal scales. We used a landscape‐scale experimental design to examine how bird assemblages in fire‐suppressed longleaf pine sandhills responded to fire alone or fire following mechanical removal or herbicide application to reduce hardwood levels. Individual treatments were compared to fire‐suppressed controls and reference sites. After initial treatment, all sites were managed with prescribed fire, on an approximately two‐ to three‐year interval, for over a decade. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordinations suggested that avian assemblages on sites that experienced any form of hardwood removal differed from assemblages on both fire‐suppressed sites and reference sites 3–4 years after treatment (i.e., early posttreatment). After >10 years of prescribed burning on all sites (i.e., late posttreatment), only assemblages at sites treated with herbicide were indistinguishable from assemblages at reference sites. By the end of the study, individual species that were once indicators of reference sites no longer contributed to making reference sites unique. Occupancy modeling of these indicator species also demonstrated increasing similarity across treatments over time. Overall, although we documented long‐term and variable assemblage‐level change, our results indicate occupancy for birds considered longleaf pine specialists was similar at treatment and reference sites after over a decade of prescribed burning, regardless of initial method of hardwood removal. In other words, based on the response of species highly associated with the habitat, we found no justification for the added cost and effort of fire surrogates; fire alone was sufficient to restore these species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the influence of landscape-level on terrestial snake occupancy within the southeastern U.S. The study uses occupancy modeling to identify habitat variables that affect in determining the presence of a particular species. Results show that some species were positively associated with scrub or shrub and grassland like Slowinski's cornsnake (Elaphe slowinskii), while copperhead snake and eastern diamond-backed rattlesnake were positively associated with forested habitats.