The effect of windthrow and its management on breeding bird communities in a managed forest

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of windthrow and two types of its management on the bird community of a managed, pine-dominated forest (NE Poland), where a windstorm event occurred in 2002. In 2007, the bird species composition was assessed using the point count method in three types of habitat: windthrow left undisturbed for natural regeneration, managed windthrow (all fallen trees removed), and intact forest (undisturbed by the windstorm, used as the control). In total, 2,365 individual birds of 70 species were recorded in the three analyzed habitats. The mean number of individuals per point and species per point was significantly higher in the natural windthrow than in the two other habitats. The diversity of the bird community was higher in the natural and managed windthrow, as compared to the control. The bird community of the control was significantly more similar to that of the natural windthrow than to the one in the managed windthrow. These results lead to a conclusion that the bird community was affected more by the clearing and artificial replanting following the windthrow than by the windthrow itself.

Natural regeneration determines wintering bird presence in wind-damaged coniferous forest stands independent of postdisturbance logging

“…Our study was performed 7 years after windthrow, and the stands are still in an early succession stage. Diverse differences in bird communities between logged and unlogged postdisturbed forest stands can be detected during early succession stages (Kroll et al 2012;Morissette et al 2002;Zmihorski 2010). In some natural disturbances such as fire, differences with logging can persist for several decades (Hannon and Drapeau 2005;Hobson and Schieck 1999); thus, in our study, differences between logged and unlogged stands, if they existed, may have been detected.…”

“…Accordingly, as most of the occurring breeding species in open habitats in Central Europe are migrants, logged stands with open habitats become minimally populated in winter (Böhning-Gaese and Oberrath 2003). Open-habitat species are found on postwindthrow logged plots during the breeding season, e.g., Eurasian Skylark (Alauda arvensis Linnaeus, 1758;Zmihorski 2010). Similarly, in our study region, the breeding bird community in beetle-killed and windthrown forests consists mainly of migrants, e.g., pipits, Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus (Linnaeus, 1758)), and Dunnock (Prunella modularis (Linnaeus, 1758)), that feed in open and semi-open habitats (Scherzinger 2006;Thorn et al 2013).…”

“…In particular, breeding bird communities have been the focus of numerous studies investigating the effects of postdisturbance logging (Castro et al 2009;Lain et al 2008;Zmihorski 2010). Another critical time for resident birds is winter, when temperatures often drop below freezing and food availability becomes unpredictable (Spencer 1982;Turcotte and Desrochers 2005).…”

Impacts of salvage logging on biodiversity: A meta‐analysis

“…Consequently, different taxonomic groups in different types of natural disturbances may respond differently to salvage logging (Zmihorski & Durska, ). Numerous studies have focused on the effects of salvage logging after natural disturbances on species richness and the community composition of various taxa such as vascular plants (Blair, McBurney, Blanchard, Banks, & Lindenmayer, ; Macdonald, ; Stuart, Grifantini, Fox, & Fox, ), carabids (Cobb, Langor, & Spence, ; Koivula & Spence, ; Phillips, Cobb, Spence, & Brigham, ), birds (Castro, Moreno‐Rueda, & Hódar, ; Choi, Lee, Nam, Lee, & Lim, ; Nappi & Drapeau, ; Saab, Russell, & Dudley, ; Thorn, Werner, et al., ; Zmihorski, ), and saproxylic organisms (i.e. those depending on dead wood during some part of their life cycles; Cobb et al., ; Norvez, Hébert, Bélanger, Hebert, & Belanger, ).…”

Impacts of landscape-scale windthrow and subsequent, variable reforestation on bird communities in Central Europe

“…Bat species respond in various ways to forest gaps resulting from disturbance, depending on their wing morphology (Fukui et al 2011, Mehr et al 2012. Bird species richness can also increase after disturbance (Żmihorski 2010(Żmihorski , Thorn et al 2016, and abundance and community composition vary with species traits and across spatial scales (Murakami et al 2008).…”