The Tar Creek Superfund Site in Picher, Oklahoma was once the world’s largest lead and zinc mining areas. Since being declared a Superfund site in 1983, large-scale remediation efforts have occurred throughout the landscape, spearheaded by the Quapaw Nation, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, and the EPA. Remediation efforts have included the removal of mining waste (chat), soil replacement, and planting native grass mixtures. In this study, we asked how habitat remediation of a heavy-metal contaminated area altered wildlife habitat and bird community composition and diversity over time. Between 2017 – 2019, we surveyed 24 locations at the Tar Creek Superfund site in various stages of remediation, from no remediation to 8-years post-completion. We sampled each location’s bird communities in May – July with three, 5-minute point count surveys, and analyzed community data through a series of ordinations, regressions, and ANOVA analyses. We evaluated habitat resources by measuring ground vegetation cover and composition, canopy cover, and shrub and tree species composition.
Results/Conclusions
During our study period, remediation of the sampling areas progressed from 19% to 50% completion. We observed 72 bird species across the sampling area, with an average of 17.5 species per site. The remediated locations were composed of grasses and forbs or cropland, as determined by the landowner’s preference. This was in contrast to locations lacking any remediation efforts, which were dominated by chat, trees, and shrubs. Remediation efforts attracted significantly more bird species to the sites, particularly for sites with tall grass and forb cover; however, some sites without remediation provided adequate habitat resources and hosted diverse bird communities. Some species, like the bank swallow, even utilized the large chat piles for nesting. Sites under construction and sites with bare ground had the least amount of bird activity, highlighting the importance of leaving the ground bare for as little time as possible throughout remediation, especially during the breeding season. Even though we observed greater species richness at remediated sites, species composition shifted from forest to grassland bird communities throughout remediation efforts. Increased dialog with stakeholders in this unique location is crucial to communicate the importance of maintaining forested land cover in the region, especially for local wildlife diversity.