Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla) demography and nest-site selection in response to single-tree selection silviculture in a northern hardwood managed forest landscape

Abstract

Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla) demography and nest-site selection were examined in mature tolerant hardwood stands and stands at 3 stages of recovery (1–5, 10–15, and 20–25 y) following single-tree selection in the continuously forested landscape of Algonquin Provincial Park, central Ontario. This is one of a few studies to provide evidence of these responses in a continuously forested landscape. No differences in nesting success or finite rates of increase were detected among treatments. Ovenbirds were more selective of nest sites with deep leaf-litter and basal areas with a greater proportion of larger trees in recently harvested stands than in other stages of recovery. By 20–25 y post-harvest, most nest-site and random-plot microhabitat parameters did not differ. During the study, Algonquin Provincial Park was designated as a sink, probably due to heavy mast production in 2006, after which some mast-consuming small mammal populations increased by 9-fold, dramatically increasing rates of nest predation. Single-tree selection did not appear to affect ovenbird per capita productivity among stages of forest recovery, and by 20–25 y post-harvest many structural features of the forest had returned to pre-harvest conditions. Thus, in Algonquin Provincial Park, single-tree selection appears to be appropriate for maintaining sufficient ovenbird nest-site features by the end of the first cutting cycle. However, future source-sink modeling of this landscape should consider the influence of resource-pulse dynamics as an important parameter and track changes over the long term, to determine how sustainable populations of ovenbirds are within this region.