Group size mediates effects of intraspecific competition and forest structure on productivity in a recovering social woodpecker population

Conservation of endangered social wildlife in disturbance‐prone forests is challenging because direct and indirect effects of management strategies developed at the time of species’ listing when population density is low may change under high‐density conditions in locally recovered populations. Here, we used piecewise structural equation modeling to evaluate direct and indirect drivers of productivity in the federally endangered cooperatively breeding red‐cockaded woodpecker Dryobates borealis (RCW) on Savannah River Site, South Carolina, USA. We estimated direct and indirect relationships among group size, neighboring group sizes, fledgling production, density of cavity tree clusters occupied by RCWs, area satisfying threshold criteria of ≥22 stems ha−1 of pines ≥35.6 cm diameter at breast height (dbh),