Clearcutting and burning of northern spruce‐fir forests: implications for small mammal communities

Abstract

Summary 0[ This study was designed to test the hypotheses that "i# abundance and related demographic parameters of small mammal populations would decline after clear! cutting of northern spruce!_r forest\ and "ii# prescribed burning\ following clear! cutting\ an approach to emulating natural disturbance\ would enhance the species richness and diversity of the small mammal community relative to unharvested and clearcut forests[ 1[ Intensive live!trapping of small mammal populations was conducted in replicated forest "uncut#\ clearcut and clearcut!burned sites from 0877 to 0881 in west!central British Columbia\ Canada[ 2[ Mean abundance of southern red!backed voles Clethrionomys gapperi was sig! ni_cantly higher on forest sites "00=63 ha Ð0 # than on clearcut "9=59 ha Ð0 # or clearcut! burned "9=91 ha Ð0 # sites[ Mean numbers of deer mice Peromyscus maniculatus were signi_cantly higher on the clearcut!burned sites "05=77 ha Ð0 # than on forest sites "8=93 ha Ð0 #[ Demographic parameters of reproduction\ survival and body weight of deer mice were similar across all sites[ 3[ The long!tailed vole Microtus longicaudus had a strong annual~uctuation in abun! dance\ particularly on clearcut sites "03=93 ha Ð0 #\ where there were signi_cantly more animals than on either forest "0=42 ha Ð0 # or clearcut!burned "1=56 ha Ð0 # sites[ Meadow voles M[ pennsylvanicus were relatively uncommon but occurred more often on clear! cut and clearcut!burned sites than on forest sites[ 4[ The north!western chipmunk Tamias amoenus occurred at signi_cantly higher numbers on clearcut "3=05 ha Ð0 # and clearcut!burned "2=77 ha Ð0 # sites than on forest sites\ where it was rarely captured[ Shrews Sorex spp[ were at similar numbers across forest\ clearcut and clearcut!burned sites[ Weasels Mustela spp[ were captured more often on clearcut and clearcut!burned sites than on forest sites[ A rare species\ the western jumping mouse Zapus princeps\ was captured on clearcut and clearcut!burned sites only[ 5[ Mean species richness of small mammals was signi_cantly higher on clearcut sites "2=40# than on forest "1=62# or clearcut!burned "1=61# sites[ Species diversity was similar over all sites[ Although species composition was altered by clearcutting\ abundance of all species\ except C[ gapperi\ was the same or higher than that in uncut forest[

Effects of deforestation on structure and diversity of small mammal communities in the Moravskoslezské Beskydy Mts (Czech Republic)

“…The increasing coverage of a shrub and tree layer results in significant changes in community structure (non-forest species disappear), slow drop of abundance that again rises slightly until reaching a balanced stage in climax forest. Confirmation of particular phases of this scheme by empirical data was found in European forests (Grodziñski 1959, Kratochvíl and Gaisler 1967, Wo³k and Wo³k 1982 as well as in North America (Kirkland 1977, Ramirez and Hornocker 1981, Sullivan et al 1999. Also our data from the Smrk Mt complex clearly indicate an increase in abundance of the small mammal community after deforestation.…”

Small mammal community response to early meadow–forest succession

“…Despite small mammals being recognized as biological indicators of sustainable forest management in the boreal zone (Pearce and Venier 2005), most research has focussed on changes in their communities during postdisturbance forest succession: after fires, clear cutting and logging (i.e., Gashwiler 1970;Kirkland 1990;Sullivan et al 1999;Briani et al 2004;Swanson et al 2010;Urban and Swihart 2011;Borchert et al 2014). Only a few investigations have dealt with changes in the small mammal community during meadow-to-forest succession stages (Atkeson and Johnson 1979;Huntly and Inouye 1987;Swihart and Slade 1990).…”

Impacts of non-native plant and animal invaders on gap regeneration in a protected boreal forest

“…Seedbed quality and dominant plant communities in insect-disturbed gaps and harvested gaps in GMNP are known to be very similar (Humber 2009) and seeds were always planted within a consistent seedbed. Further research is needed to investigate if the ubiquitously low emergence within anthropogenic gaps may potentially be the result of higher levels of seed predation in this disturbance regime (Simon et al 1998;Sullivan et al 1999), as remnants of predated seeds were occasionally observed within experimental plots.…”