Restoration Creates Haven for Birds.

Millions of acres of pine woodlands once covered a large portion of the Midwest but, as humans logged these trees and suppressed natural fires, the woodlands gave way to dense forests with thick leaf litter and tree species that were less fire-resistant, leading to more-intense and unpredictable fires as well as the loss of native bird habitats.

However, researchers have shown in a study that restoration of pine woodlands--through the combined use of intentional, managed fires and strategic thinning of tree density--has a strikingly beneficial effect on a diverse array of birds, some of which are facing sharp declines from human-driven impacts like climate change and habitat loss.

"Some people might hear the words 'fire' and 'thinning' and immediately imagine charred, flattened wastelands, but that isn't the reality," says Melissa Roach, a researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey's Bird Banding Lab, who carried out the study while completing her master's degree at the...