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Bird Community Response to Timber Stand Improvement and Snag

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Bird Community Response to Timber Stand Improvement and Snag oak, white oak, red maple, black Bird Community Responseto cherry, and pitch pine. Dominant groundcover consisted of leaf litter, Timber Stand Improvementand Vacciniumsp., and variousspecies of ferns. Canopy closureaveraged be- tween 55 and 76%. Extent of defolia- Snag Retention Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/njaf/article-abstract/7/1/35/4802582 by DigiTop USDA's Digital Desktop Library user on 20 September 2018 tion by gypsymoths on all areaswas <5% duringthe study. TSI thinnings on two areas and H. Lee Stribling,Department of Zoologyand Wildlife Science, TSI + SNAG thinningson the other 311Funchess Hall, AlabamaAgricultural Experiment Station, two areas were conducted during 1983-84. All study areas were thin- AuburnUniversity, AL 36849-5414;Harvey R. Smith, nined to 400-550 trees/ha and basal NortheasternForest Experiment Station, USDA Forest Service, 52 areas of 24.1-25.7 m2/ha (105.2-112.0 Mill PondRoad, Hamden, CN 06514;and Richard H. Yahner, ft2/ac).Because thinnings were part of a TSI program,the percentageof each Schoolof Forest Resources, The Pennsylvania State University, standthat was cut variedslightly ac- UniversityPark, PA 16802. cordingto numberof treeson a partic- ular studyarea that were dead,dying, malformed,or low-quality.Generally, ABSTRACT.Avian surveyswere con- (6 ft.) tall (Thomaset al. 1979).Dead thinningtook about 20 to 25% of the ductedfrom May-July, 1985 on four study or diseased trees with abundant basal area within each stand. Residual areas in the MoshannonState Forest, numbersof arthropodsare also im- treeheight averaged 19 m on all areas. ClearfieldCo., PA. Wecompared bird pop- portantfeeding sites for somebirds. Avian data and the majority of the ulations and communitiesin Timber Stand TS! cuts that eliminate most of these vegetationdata were collectedin 1985. Improvementareas to TimberStand Im- deadand diseasedtrees may signifi- A totalof 256and 277snags was re- provementareas with snags retained (TSI canfly affectbird communitieswithin servedon the 2 TSI + SNAG study vs. TSI + SNAG, respectively).Bird these standsby removingnesting, sites.These snags were distributedas numbersaveraged 1.7 timeshigher on the roosting,and feedingsites. evenly as possibleover 20-ha areas TSI + SNAG area than on the TSI area. Researchon relationshipsof snags (12.8 and 13.9 snags/ha,respectively) Averagespecies richness also was signifi- to avian populationshas been con- within each of the TSI + SNAG cantlyhigher on TSI + SNAG.Retention ductedin many areasof the United stands. As many snagsas possible of snagswas important to bark-gleaning States (Conner 1978, Evans and were removedduring thinning opera- and cavity-nestingbirds. During TSI Conner1979), but verylittle work has tions on the two TSI stands. A careful operations,forest managers can improve beendone in theNortheast, especially survey of the TSI stands revealed habitatfor cavity-nestingand bark- with regardto the effectsof snagre- somesnags remaining after thinning. gleaningbirds by leaving snags. The costs tentionand timber-management prac- However, TSI + SNAG stands had ofleaving snags is low,and the long-term tices on forest birds. 2.2 timesas many snags and 3.6 times benefitsprovided by insectivorousbirds Our objectiveis to comparebird asmuch basal area in snagsas did the outweighthe costs. populations and communities in TSI standsafter the thinningopera- North.J. Appl.For. 7(1):35•38, March 1990. standssubjected to TSI cuts versus tion. Snagsretained on the TS! + standssubjected to modifiedTSI cuts SNAG areasaveraged 39 cm dbh and with snag retention (TSI + SNAG). 13.6 m tall. An effort was made to se- Silviculturalpractices thatdisturb Results of our studywill be valuableto lect snagsfor retention that already forestunderstory and overstory vege- forestwildlife managers interested in had cavitiespresent. Retained snags tationaffect birds in differentways minimizing the effect of thinning averaged 1.1 cavities per tree. Re- dependingon a spedes'particular hab- operationson forestbirds. rainedsnags were predominatelyred oak, red maple, black cherry, and itat requirements(Conner et al. 1975, STUDY AREA Titteringtonet al. 1979, Crawfordet pitch pine. The majority of these al. 1981,Conner et al. 1983,Niemi and Thestudy was conducted at•Vlo- snagswas in the 4.0 stageof decay Hanowski 1984). Timber stand im- shannon State Forest, Clearfield Co., based on the series of tree deteriora- provement(TSI) is a practicewhereby Pennsylvania,in 1985. Four study tion (Thomaset al. 1979).In stage4 of forestsare thinnedby the removalof areaswere chosen based on similarity treedecomposition, most major limbs dead,dying, diseased, suppressed, or of elevation(500 to 600 m), slope are missing,and bark is slippingover low-qualitytrees (Smith 1962). Many (about 20%), aspect(southern), and 50% of the tree. treesremoved in TSI operationscould vegetationstructure and composition. METHODS be classifiedas snags.Snags are de- The TSI study areas were 70.4 and fined as any deador partly deadtree 59.5 ha and shared a common border Birdsurveys covered a central10-ha large enoughto be used by birdsfor alongone side700 m in length.The area (1000 x 100 m transect)within nesting or roosting,usually at least TSI + SNAG areas were 46.1 and 59.5 eachstudy site. Survey belts were lo- 10 2 cm (4 in.) dbh and at least1.8 m ha and were locatedaway from the cated as far as possiblefrom study TSI study sites9.7 km and 43.4 km, areaborders to minimizeedge effects. respectively. Surveys were conducted between 0600and 1000EDT, and at leasteight Vegetation 1This researchwas supportedby funds wererun on eacharea from late May- provided by the USDA Forest Service, Timbertypes on all 4 studyareas earlyJuly 1985.Surveys were distrib- NortheasternForest Experiment Station. and on areassurrounding study sites uted betweenstudy areas as evenly in AlabamaAgricultural Experiment Station were very similar. Dominant over- time (hour and day) as possible.All Journal SeriesNo. 15-892157P. story trees consistedof northern red birdssighted or heardwithin 50 m of NJAF7(1990) 35 either side of the transect center line We found that snagswere impor- areas becausethe snags provided were recordedand mappedby an ob- tant to birdsoccupying bark-gleaning more foraging substrate for bark servermoving at a slow walk (Conner and cavity-nestingguilds. When birds gleanersand a greater number of and Dickson1980). "Fly-overs"were were stratified into foraging and hollow treesfor cavitynesters. excluded. Surveys were not con- nestingguilds (Table 3), bark-gleaning Others have shown also that avail- ducted on days when it rained or foragersand cavitynesters were sig- abilityof snagsin forestsis positively when wind exceeded 20 km/hr. nificantlymore numerous(F = 6.21, correlated with cavity-nesting bird Numbers of individual birds of each df = 30, P < 0.0185,and F = 9.08, df abundance, diversity, and species speciesand numbers of individual = 30, P < 0.0052,respectively) in the richness (e.g., Balda 1975, Yahner TSI + SNAG area. Members of these birdsof all speciescombined were de- 1987). Conversely,removal of snags Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/njaf/article-abstract/7/1/35/4802582 by DigiTop USDA's Digital Desktop Library user on 20 September 2018 terminedfor eachsurvey. These mea- two guilds, brown creeper, white- has been shown to decreasecavity- suresof avian populationswere ana- breasted nuthatch, and downy and nestingbirds by asmuch as 52% (Scott lyzed using ANOVA procedures(Lu- hairy woodpeckers,may have been 1979) in some areas. ginbuhlet al. 1987). greaterin the TSI + SNAG than TSI Useof snagsis not alwaysrestricted Birdswere organizedinto foraging and nesting guilds (Root 1967). The numberof birdswithin eachguild on Table 2. Averagenumber of birdsseen or heardper surveyat MoshannonState TSI and TSI + SNAG study areas Forest,Clearfield Co., PA,in timberstand improvement with snagsretained (TSI + were comparedusing ANOVA proce- SNAG)versus timber stand improvement (TSI) studyareas from May-July 1985. dures. Study Area Tree diameter,density, and canopy TSI + SNAG TSI closurewere quantifiedin 0.05 ha cir- Area 1 Area 2 Area 1 Area 2 cular plots locatedat 50-m intervals along the 1000-mtransect used for Numberof surveys: 8 8 8 9 bird surveys. Low-growing woody American redstart 1.50 3.44 3.38 2.25 vegetation was quantified in the (Setophagaruticilla) centerof eachplot by countingwoody American robin 0.75 1.56 0.13 1.50 stemspresent within a 1-me circleat (Turdusmigratorius) heightsof 0.1, 0.5 1.0, 1.5, and 2 m Bluejay 0.25 0.44 0.13 -- abovethe ground.Percent canopy clo- ( Cyanocittacristata) Browncreeper 0.75 1.89 0.25 -- surewas estimatedby viewingverti- (Certhia americana) cally through a 5-cm tube. ANOVA Black-cappedchickadee 0.13 1.00 1.50 0.13 procedureswere usedto determineif (Parusatricapillus) differencesexisted in vegetationstruc- Brown-headed cowbird -- 0.11 -- 0.25 turethat couldexplain abundance and (Molothrus ater) distribution of birds on the study Black-throatedgreen warbler -- 0.11 0.88 0.38 areas. (Dendroica virens) Chippingsparrow 2.00 2.67 1.13 1.38 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION (Spizellaaborea) Chestnut-sided warbler 1.13 2.00 0.25 -- Study areaswith snagscontained (Dendroicapensylvanica) more birds and a higher number of Commonyellowthroat 10.38 3.22 0.88 1.63 species than study areas without (Geothlypistrichas) snags. Bird numbers averaged 1.7 Dark-eyedjunco 0.38 0.56 1.25 0.50 timeshigher (F = 37.9, df = 30, P < (Juncohyemalis) 0.0001) on the TSI + SNAG area than Downywoodpecker
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