The Acadian Flycatcher is a habitat specialist, and it shows

We examined factors affecting the nesting success of a migratory songbird, the Acadian flycatcher (Empidonax virescens), in loblolly pine plantations in the coastal plain of South Carolina, USA. From 1997–2000, we located and monitored 163 Acadian flycatcher nests in loblolly pine stands and corridors that were 18–27 years old. We used Mayfield logistic regression (Aebischer 1999, Hazler 2004) to model the effects of edge and stand-level vegetation structure on nest daily survival rate. There was no evidence of an effect of edge on nest survival, but nest survival was positively related to the height of the deciduous subcanopy and to the density of shrub cover. Although Acadian flycatchers are generally regarded as habitat specialists requiring mature hardwood forests, our data suggest that pine plantations can support breeding populations, provided that a substantial hardwood component is present. We believe that maintaining multiple vegetation strata and increasing the length of harvest rotations would improve the habitat value of pine plantations for Acadian flycatchers and presumably other species more typically associated with deciduous forests. Maintenance of a corridor network, as practiced by some industrial forest managers, is one means of providing more mature forest habitat, thereby fostering higher nesting success. Concern that these corridors might act as ecological traps seems to be unwarranted in our study area. Corridors thus appear to be a valuable management tool for promoting wildlife values within the context of an industrial forest landscape.