Cerulean warbler use of regenerated clearcut and two-age harvests

Abstract

We examined use of 2 silvicultural treatments (clearcut and two-age harvests), 15-18 years post-harvest by cerulean warblers (Dendroica cerulea) in mixed mesophytic and northern hardwood forests of the Allegheny Mountain region in West Virginia. Cerulean warbler abundance and occurrence were greater in 70-80-year-old mature forests than in 15-18-year-old clearcuts. Although abundance did not differ statistically between clearcut and two-age treatments, it was almost 5 times greater in the two-age treatments, likely because they provided a more complex canopy structure. Abundance of cerulean warblers in unharvested periphery stands adjacent to clearcut and two-age harvests was similar to that in unharvested control stands, suggesting that small harvests within mature forest do not negatively impact cerulean warbler abundance in the remaining forest, only within the clearcut harvests themselves.