Forest birds and forest management in Ontario: Status, management, and policy

Abstract

This paper presents a summary of presentations and discussions at a 3-day workshop on research and management of forest birds in Ontario forests. While many forest birds in Ontario do not appear to be negatively affected over the long term by forest management, some species were noted as declining using Breeding Bird Atlas data and more research is required to understand the causes, some of which may well be related to habitat change on the wintering grounds. For example, the aerial foragers as a group have declined significantly during the past 20 years. Recent research suggests landscape convergence between managed and fire-origin stands for bird species over time, but negative effects were suggested for boreal chickadee (Poecile hudsonsicus), brown creeper (Certhia familiaris), and some cavity-users, although there is no evidence of declines in these species from the current atlas data. This inconsistency needs to be evaluated. In Carolinian forests, even small-scale tree harvesting in this already highly fragmented landscape can have deleterious effects on breeding success for some species, such as wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) and rose-breasted grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus). New modelling techniques and meta-analyses seem to hold considerable promise as tools to help managers understand key habitats, species that require special attention, and as predictive models of forest management effects. A large number of recommendations to improve the management of forest birds are provided and as is a suggested research agenda to improve our understanding of key factors affecting birds in managed forests.Key words: forest birds, forest management, boreal forest, Great Lakes-St. Lawrence forest, Carolinian forest, indicators, modelling, cavity nester, spruce budworm, forest policy, Ontario RÉSUMÉCet article présente un sommaire des exposés et des discussions qui ont eu lieu lors d'un atelier de trois jours sur la recherche et la gestion des oiseaux des forêts de l'Ontario. Même s'il apparaît que l'aménagement forestier en Ontario ne semble pas affecté négativement à long terme les oiseaux forestiers, certaines espèces se sont avérées être en déclin selon les données de l' Atlas des oiseaux nicheurs et de plus amples recherches sont requises pour en comprendre les causes, certaines pouvant bien être reliées aux modifications de l'habitat dans les aires d'hivernage. Par exemple, les oiseaux se nourrissant en vol en tant que groupe ont connu un déclin significatif au cours des 20 dernières années. Des recherches récentes laissent entendre une convergence des écosystèmes entre les peuplements aménagés et ceux issus de feux de forêt au niveau des espèces aviaires au cours du temps, mais des effets négatifs seraient apparus dans le cas de la mésange à tête brune (Poecile hudsonsicus), du grimpereau brun (Certhia familiaris) et de certains utilisateurs de cavités, même s'il n'y a pas d'indication d'un déclin à partir des données actuelles de l'atlas. Cette divergence doit être étudiée. Dans les forêts caro...

Do hot spots of breeding birds serve as surrogate hot spots of wintering birds? An example from centralSpain

“…Despite the importance of the winter period for birds, most studies do not consider wintering avifauna when developing conservation networks, mainly because of the lack of atlases for this period (e.g. Heldbjerg & Fox, ; Thompson et al ., ). Therefore, for these conservation goals, more effort should be put in developing winter‐bird atlases.…”

Effects of natural resource development on the terrestrial biodiversity of Canadian boreal forests

“…Data for forest birds suggests that many species are undergoing population changes, some positive and some negative. Although impacts outside of Canada are the suspected causes of declines by some species (Martin and Finch 1995;Imbeau et al 2001;Thompson et al 2009), others are thought to be directly affected by forest management and other industrial developments (Greenberg and Matsuoka 2010;Drapeau et al 2009). Although we have framed the question in terms of species loss, a declining trend in abundance, for which mitigation should be considered, is a significant warning sign of the loss of ecological integrity in the forest system.…”

Effects of single-tree selection harvesting on Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus leudovicianus) demography in a northern hardwood forest

“…Although such observations suggest that this species will use forests regenerating after selection harvesting, existing research on the effects of partial harvesting has provided mixed results. Depending on the study, density responses to partial harvesting have been recorded as positive (Holmes et al, 2004;Jobes et al, 2004;Doyon et al, 2005;Guénette and Villard, 2005), neutral (Duguay et al, 2001;Holmes and Pitt, 2007), or negative (Smith et al, 2006;Vanderwel et al, 2007;Thompson et al, 2009). Demographic studies of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, which could help explain these mixed responses, have so far only been undertaken in the fragmented Carolinian forest, where both density and the proportion of older territorial males were lower in harvested fragments than in unharvested ones (Smith et al, 2006).…”