Breeding bird response to riparian forest management: 9 years post-harvest

Abstract

We previously examined the 3-year response of breeding bird communities to timber harvest in riparian areas using two harvest techniques (full tree harvest (GPL) and cut-to-length (CTL)) along first- to third-order streams in northern Minnesota, USA. We revisited the same 12 sites 9 years post-harvest and compared community composition, total abundance, species richness, and the abundance of bird guilds on harvest plots randomly assigned to four treatments (three plots per treatment). Analyses revealed a significant response of the bird community to timber harvest in the riparian area. Nine years post-harvest, bird communities in the uncut riparian buffers were statistically indistinguishable from control bird communities. Differences in bird communities between CTL and GPL treatments detected 3 years post-harvest in buffers were no longer evident after 9 years. Breeding bird community composition in harvested buffers became more similar to uncut and control buffer communities in species composition. All treatment buffers continued to have more species and individuals than control buffers; these bird species had affinities for early-successional forests. No differences among forest interior species or ground-nesting birds were evident between treatments 9 years post-harvest.