twitter

Sunday 27 September 2015

1820 Sept 26 The legendary frontiersman Daniel Boone dies quietly at the Defiance, Mo., home of his son Nathan, at age 85.


1 June 2014, Pages 5–18
Mechanisms and predictors of ecological change in managed forests: A selection of papers from the second international conference on biodiversity in forest ecosystems and landscapes



Highlights

We studied effects of Cerulean Warbler management on other breeding forest birds.
We replicated our experiment at seven study areas in the central Appalachians.
10–20 m2 ha−1 Residual basal area harvests had largest Cerulean Warblers increases.
They increased forest gap species and retained, but reduced closed-canopy species.
Ecologically-based forest management may benefit multiple breeding bird assemblages.

Abstract

Timber harvesting has been proposed as a management tool to enhance breeding habitat for the Cerulean Warbler (Setophaga cerulea), a declining Neotropical–Nearctic migratory songbird that nests in the canopy of mature eastern deciduous forests. To evaluate how this single-species management focus might fit within an ecologically based management approach for multiple forest birds, we performed a manipulative experiment using four treatments (three intensities of timber harvests and an unharvested control) at each of seven study areas within the core Cerulean Warbler breeding range. We collected pre-harvest (one year) and post-harvest (four years) data on the territory density of Cerulean Warblers and six additional focal species, avian community relative abundance, and several key habitat variables. We evaluated the avian and habitat responses across the 3–32 m2 ha−1 residual basal area (RBA) range of the treatments. Cerulean Warbler territory density peaked with medium RBA (∼16 m2 ha−1). In contrast, territory densities of the other focal species were negatively related to RBA (e.g., Hooded Warbler [Setophaga citrina]), were positively related to RBA (e.g., Ovenbird [Seiurus aurocapilla]), or were not sensitive to this measure (Scarlet Tanager [Piranga olivacea]). Some species (e.g., Hooded Warbler) increased with time post-treatment and were likely tied to a developing understory, whereas declines (e.g., Ovenbird) were immediate. Relative abundance responses of additional species were consistent with the territory density responses of the focal species. Across the RBA gradient, greatest separation in the avian community was between early successional forest species (e.g., Yellow-breasted Chat [Icteria virens]) and closed-canopy mature forest species (e.g., Ovenbird), with the Cerulean Warbler and other species located intermediate to these two extremes. Overall, our results suggest that harvests within 10–20 m2 ha−1 RBA yield the largest increases in Cerulean Warblers, benefit additional disturbance-dependent species, and may retain closed-canopy species but at reduced levels. Harvests outside the optimum RBA range for Cerulean Warblers can support bird assemblages specifically associated with early or late (closed-canopy) successional stages.

Keywords

  • Upland hardwood forest;
  • Silviculture;
  • Residual basal area;
  • Forest bird management;
  • Cerulean Warbler;
  • Bird assemblages

Corresponding author. Address: 322 Percival Hall, West Virginia University, WV 26506, USA. Tel.: +1 304 293 0037.