Rethinking forest‐bird habitat management guidelines in the northern Lake States

Corace, R. Gregory

doi:10.1002/wsb.872

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…The specific prescription of management guidelines for bird species, such as those developed for several bird species in temperate forests of the world (e.g. Corace 2018, Weiss et al 2018, requires a detailed knowledge of the autoecology of each species, which is undoubtedly complex in widely distributed and not well-known forests. Active forest management is neces-sary for the conservation of forest-dependent bird species, but affects other landscape and stand-level biodiversity elements (Corace 2018).…”

Section: Tablementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Corace 2018, Weiss et al 2018, requires a detailed knowledge of the autoecology of each species, which is undoubtedly complex in widely distributed and not well-known forests. Active forest management is neces-sary for the conservation of forest-dependent bird species, but affects other landscape and stand-level biodiversity elements (Corace 2018). For example, it would be recommendable the preservation of some forest habitat features as large canopy trees, snags, logs and specific understory covers (Díaz et al 2005).…”

Section: Tablementioning

confidence: 99%

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Variable retention forestry conserves habitat of bird species in Patagonian Nothofagus pumilio forests

et al. 2018

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Section: Tablementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tablementioning

confidence: 99%

Variable retention forestry conserves habitat of bird species in Patagonian Nothofagus pumilio forests

et al. 2018

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“…Myer (2012) found that prescribed fire had largely been excluded from recovery efforts, with high levels of risk aversion to using fire in this context among natural resource professionals. Recovery efforts for this species to date have been primarily characterized by use of intensive mechanical interventions to provide a reliable method to develop and maintain suitable habitat (Barnes 1993;Corace and Goebel 2010;Corace 2018). These methods tend to provide a higher proportion of young stands of jack pine on the landscape than would have been seen historically (Tucker et al 2016), and some have suggested altering the timing and the replanting pattern of jack pine plantations, as well as retaining biological legacies such as standing dead trees and coarse woody debris (Spaulding and Rothstein 2009; Goebel 2010) to more closely resemble the patterns produced by wildfire and help meet the needs of a broader suite of species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aligning endangered species management with fire-dependent ecosystem restoration: manager perspectives on red-cockaded woodpecker and longleaf pine management actions

2019

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Background: Endangered species management has been criticized as emphasizing a single-species approach to conservation and, in some cases, diverting resources from broad-based, land management objectives important for overall biodiversity maintenance. Herein we examine perceptions on management for an endangered species whose habitat requirements largely depend on frequent fire, the red-cockaded woodpecker (Leuconotopicus borealis Vieillot). In doing so, we consider the alignment between species-specific population recovery actions and broader ecosystem restoration goals. Through semi-structured interviews with natural resource professionals (n = 32) in the Southeast Coastal Plain of the United States, we examined manager perspectives on the evolution of recovery efforts and the potential alignment of recovery efforts with other management goals and objectives on public lands. Results: Participants described an evolution of approaches to manage red-cockaded woodpeckers, from an initial emphasis on intensive management actions with a single-species focus to reduce extinction risk (e.g., artificial inserts and translocation of individual birds) to a broader focus on restoring forest conditions and the processes that maintain them (e.g., fire). Most participants considered red-cockaded woodpecker habitat management to be compatible with other resource management actions (e.g., prescribed fire, mechanical thinning). However, there were some notable exceptions as a smaller but substantive number of participants indicated that specific habitat management guidelines (basal area guidelines for foraging habitat) posed a barrier to implementing preferred ecosystem restoration actions (transitioning stands of fast-growing, short-lived pines to longleaf pine [Pinus palustris Mill.]). Overall, participants expected efforts to provide habitat for red-cockaded woodpeckers to continue regardless of its conservation status and that intensive, single-species management actions would likely decrease over time. Conclusions: Providing for the specific needs of specialist species that are in decline is often necessary to prevent their extinction in the near term. Our findings suggest that the ability to connect long-term management actions to recover endangered species to other agency priorities may promote the willingness of managers to prioritize and continue long-term management of their habitats.

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Assessing the effects of Close-to-Nature Forestry on forest birds in the eastern United States: A case study and way forward

Gresh

Courter

2022

Avian Biology Research

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Over the last half-century, North American forest birds have experienced staggering declines, while at the same time, many metrics indicate that North American forest health has improved. While the United States has been recognised for global leadership in innovation and research in forestry, the negative impacts of high-severity harvesting methods and forest fragmentation are sometimes overlooked, and a dearth of research studies exist that assess the impacts of lower-severity forestry practices on birds. Globally, some regions are pursuing markedly different forestry practices, and one example is Europe’s Close-To-Nature Forestry (CTNF) that protects forest canopies. Historically, CTNF methods have not been promoted to help avian abundance or diversity; however, forest bird populations in Europe have increased 7% over the last two decades, and we posit whether similar forest management approaches in the eastern USA could benefit North American birds. Therefore, we sought to 1) assess the effects of forest structural characteristics on avian species richness in a CTNF-managed forest in the eastern USA; 2) compare our results to county-level eBird data to identify the challenges of assessing the impacts of forestry practices on birds at landscape scales; 3) highlight the ambiguities in current forest management guidelines for improving avian habitats in the USA and 4) suggest long-term direction for evaluating the impacts of alternative forest management practices on birds. Our case study provides preliminary evidence that CTNF-managed forests may support diverse birds of high conservation value that are normally drawn to different forest management extremes. We also provide recommendations for utilising eBird data to assess alternative forest management strategies at landscape scales and a synthesised look at the forest management guidelines provided by many of the major players in American ornithology. While there may be multiple reasons for forest bird declines noted in the past 50 years in North America, long-standing forest management practices and policies should not be overlooked.

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Rethinking forest‐bird habitat management guidelines in the northern Lake States

Cited by 3 publications

References 51 publications

Variable retention forestry conserves habitat of bird species in Patagonian Nothofagus pumilio forests

Variable retention forestry conserves habitat of bird species in Patagonian Nothofagus pumilio forests

Aligning endangered species management with fire-dependent ecosystem restoration: manager perspectives on red-cockaded woodpecker and longleaf pine management actions

Assessing the effects of Close-to-Nature Forestry on forest birds in the eastern United States: A case study and way forward

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