Stand-scale responses of forest-floor small mammal populations to varying size, number, and location of retention tree patches

Sultaire, Sean M.; Kroll, Andrew J.; Verschuyl, Jake; Roloff, Gary J.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118837

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…For stands without riparian zones, grouping retention trees into a single patch or several small patches will result in similar species richness of small mammals. However, previous studies suggest that changes in abundance of common species in response to retention pattern should also be considered when making decisions on retention placement [ 66 ]. Retention pattern had minimal effect on functional richness of the small mammal community, but may influence levels of functional redundancy, and hence, resiliency of the community.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-term responses of small mammal diversity to varying stand-scale patterns of retention tree patches

et al. 2022

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Retention forestry is a common practice for biodiversity conservation in forests managed for wood production. Retention forestry often leaves unharvested patches of trees that vary in size and spatial pattern but experiments evaluating the effects of different retention patch configurations at a constant level of retention are lacking for many regions and taxonomic groups. We implemented an experimental study in clearcut conifer stands with retention across the U.S. Pacific Northwest region. The study consisted of five stand-level (11–55 ha) experimental treatments each replicated 10 times within a randomized complete block design, resulting in 50 treated stands. Retained tree density was comparable across treatments but size, number, and location (upland or riparian) of patches within stands varied among the five treatments. Within experimental treatments, we measured small mammal (<1kg) species and functional trait (i.e., body size, diet, activity stratum) richness in retention patches, surrounding harvested portions of stands, and nearby unharvested stands. We evaluated species and functional trait richness by treatment using generalized linear mixed-effects models and species-specific responses to retention placement using a community occupancy model. We obtained repeat captures of 21 species of small mammals but found limited evidence of a treatment effect on species richness, and no differences in functional trait richness. Species richness was highest where all retained trees were aggregated into one patch placed adjacent to a forested riparian buffer (mean = 6.6 species, 95% CI = 5.7–7.5), and lowest in the treatment containing one retention patch in the upland portion of a harvested stand (mean = 4.7 species, 95% CI = 3.8–5.6). Furthermore, estimates of species richness within retention patches of harvested stands (i.e., not considering species in harvested areas) did not differ among treatments, indicating that the slightly elevated species richness in riparian-associated retention results from 1–2 species in these patches that do not occur in adjacent harvested portions of each treated stand. Patch occupancy of several species was higher in riparian patches than harvested portions of the treated stands, and fewer species had higher occupancy in upland patches compared to harvested portions of treated stands. Our results indicated that at retention densities currently required in Oregon and Washington, the location of retention patches had a small influence on stand-scale measures of small mammal diversity, but local increases in species richness may be obtained by retaining trees adjacent to riparian buffers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-term responses of small mammal diversity to varying stand-scale patterns of retention tree patches

et al. 2022

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“…The large decline in functional richness between years in our study could indicate that the functional composition of carabid species in larger retention patches could be ephemeral. Monitoring carabid community responses to retention strategies through time and comparing the response of this taxon with other taxonomic groups will provide a better understanding of how retention forestry contributes to the biodiversity in PNW managed forests (e.g., Linden et al 2012, Sultaire et al 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of varying retention tree patterns on ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) taxonomic and functional diversity

et al. 2021

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Managing forests intensively for timber production can homogenize forest structure and, in turn, alter species richness and functional composition of native species communities. Retention forestry, the practice of retaining structural elements during timber harvest, can increase species diversity in recently harvested forests, but its effect on functional trait diversity is less understood. We used a broadscale, replicated experiment to evaluate the effect of five tree retention patterns on species and functional trait diversity of ground beetles (Family: Carabidae) within early-seral production forests in the Pacific Northwest, USA. We found no evidence for differences in carabid species or functional trait richness among treatments when considering species present in retention patches and adjacent clear-cuts. However, we found evidence for lower taxonomic and functional trait variation between carabid communities present in retention patches and those present in clear-cut areas of stands when retention was allocated to several small patches. Lower levels of functional trait variation in stands with several small patches were due to specialized predators found less often in small retention patches than in aggregated or riparian retention patches. Our findings indicate that relative to single large or riparian-associated patches, small retention patches functioned similarly to clear-cuts within harvested forests and several small patches did not increase species or functional trait richness. At current levels of retention in the region, allocation of trees to a single upland patch or split between riparian and upland patches can increase variation in ground beetle taxonomic and functional composition within harvested forests.

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Using spaceborne LiDAR to reveal drivers of animal demography

Barry,

Holbrook,

Vogeler

et al. 2024

Ecological Applications

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Remote sensing can provide continuous spatiotemporal information about vegetation to inform wildlife habitat estimates, but these methods are often limited in availability or lack adequate resolution to capture the three‐dimensional vegetative details critical for understanding habitat. The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) is a spaceborne light detection and ranging system (LiDAR) that has revolutionized the availability of high‐quality three‐dimensional vegetation measurements of the Earth's temperate and tropical forests. To date, wildlife‐related applications of GEDI data or GEDI‐fusion products have been limited to estimate species habitat use, distribution, and diversity. Here, our goal was to expand the use of GEDI‐based applications to wildlife demography by evaluating if GEDI data fusions could aid in characterizing demographic parameters of wildlife. We leveraged a recently published dataset of GEDI‐fusion forest structures and capture–mark–recapture data to estimate the density and survival of two small mammal species, Humboldt's flying squirrel (Glaucomys oregonensis) and Townsend's chipmunk (Neotamias townsendii), from three studies in western Oregon spanning 2014–2021. We used capture histories in Huggins robust design models to estimate apparent annual survival and density as a derived parameter. We found strong support that both flying squirrel and chipmunk density were associated with GEDI‐fusion forest structures of foliage height diversity and plant area volume density in the 5–10 m strata for flying squirrels and proportionately higher plant area volume density in the 0–20 m strata for chipmunks, as well as other spatiotemporal factors such as elevation. We found weak support that apparent annual survival was associated with GEDI‐fusion forest structures for flying squirrels but not for chipmunks. We demonstrate further utility of these methods by creating spatially explicit density maps of both species that could aid management and conservation policies. Our work represents a novel application of GEDI data to evaluate wildlife demography and produce continuous spatially explicit density predictions for these species. We conclude that aspects of small mammal demography can be explained by forest structure as characterized via GEDI data fusions.

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Stand-scale responses of forest-floor small mammal populations to varying size, number, and location of retention tree patches

Cited by 5 publications

References 48 publications

Short-term responses of small mammal diversity to varying stand-scale patterns of retention tree patches

Short-term responses of small mammal diversity to varying stand-scale patterns of retention tree patches

Effects of varying retention tree patterns on ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) taxonomic and functional diversity

Using spaceborne LiDAR to reveal drivers of animal demography

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