@misc{01JPSMGZ7VDHZXMGN5FB4ZKA8H,
  abstract     = {{Birds are directly affected by changes in forest ecological conditions determined by forest management through the manipulation of stand structural attributes. Assessing the responses of different ecological guilds of mountain breeding birds to changes in forest attributes may contribute to the development of sustainable management strategies. Here, we surveyed forest structure and bird community in 148 sampling units across France and Italy with the aim of identifying thresholds for those stand variables that influence bird species diversity. This study is based on merged data collected for different research projects with comparable methodologies. The survey units were distributed over an altitudinal range from 805 to 1555 m a.s.l. and were mainly covered by mountain beech and Alpine coniferous forests. We modelled the response of richness of overall bird communities and of individual ecological guilds to structural attributes and topographic variables using generalized modelling. The number of bird species was negatively related to total tree density. However, an increasing density of silver fir determined a higher species richness for most bird guilds, which showed a preference for mixed woods and heterogeneous stand structure. An increase in the quantity of deadwood had a significant positive effect on all bird guilds, confirming the importance of old growth stand features for forest birds. Threshold values causing a shift in the richness of bird guilds could be identified for some stand structural attributes only (i.e., total basal area and deadwood). According to our results, the conservation of forest bird communities may benefit from management strategies that maintain mixed and relatively open canopies, and that promote deadwood recruitment to guarantee the availability of related habitats. Our approach sets the stage for further research, applying the methodology to different variables and different biodiversity metrics.}},
  author       = {{Portaccio, Alessia and Paillet, Yoan and Chojnacki, Lucas and Trentanovi, Giovanni and Campagnaro, Thomas and Burrascano, Sabina and Sitzia, Tommaso}},
  issn         = {{1556-5068}},
  keywords     = {{Forest biodiversity,Forest Structure,deadwood,biodiversity indicators,Forest management,woodland birds}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{34}},
  series       = {{SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH NETWORK}},
  title        = {{Bird response to forest structure and composition and implications for sustainable mountain forest management}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4305869}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}

Altmetric

View in Altmetric