Legacy forest structure increases bird diversity and abundance in aging young forests.

ABSTRACT: Many studies have demonstrated the importance of early-successional forest habitat for breeding bird abundance, composition, and diversity. However, very few studies directly link measures of bird diversity, composition and abundance to measures of forest composition, and structure and their dynamic change over early succession. This study examines the relationships between breeding bird community composition and forest structure in regenerating broadleaf forests of southern New England, USA, separating the influences of ecological succession from retained stand structure. We conducted bird point counts and vegetation surveys across a chronosequence of forest stands that originated between 2 and 24 years previously in shelterwood timber harvests, a silvicultural method of regenerating oak-

SUBMITTER: Hanle J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7029076 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature