ASSESSMENT OF THE ECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS OFFERED BY DECIDOUS STANDS FROM THE NORTHERN ROMANIA FOR THE AVIAN POPULATIONS

Abstract

Bird populations are fundamental elements of forest biodiversity and play a very important role in maintaining the ecological balance and normal functions of forest ecosystems, so that they are an indicator of sustainable management taken into account at European level. Consequently, the existence or setting up by management measures of the most favourable conditions for diverse assemblages of birds is one of the objectives of sustainable forest management. For this purpose the paper aims to assess the ecological conditions offered by broadleaved stands from the northern Romania for the avian populations. The parameters considered were the stands layers, the composition and spatial distribution of forest shrubs, the stand density, the biological potential of forest species, stand age and stand ecological dynamic, landscape parameters. Using these parameters as partial favourability indices, a simple method for assessing the ecological conditions offered to bird populations based on a Total Favourability Index (TFI) is proposed for practical forest management purposes. According to this index, in the case study of the northern broadleaved managed stands, the ecological favourability for birds is medium.