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Selection of mature and old stands by C orsican N uthatch S itta whiteheadi in harvested forests
Author(s) -
Villard Pascal,
Besnard Aurélien,
Thibault JeanClaude,
Recorbet Bernard,
Prodon Roger
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
ibis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.933
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1474-919X
pISSN - 0019-1019
DOI - 10.1111/ibi.12106
Subject(s) - snag , diameter at breast height , felling , forestry , threatened species , habitat , biology , agroforestry , geography , ecology
In harvested forests, the bird community is largely determined by stand structure, which itself is determined by forestry practices. This study aimed to identify habitat variables determining the presence of C orsican N uthatch S itta whiteheadi – a threatened island endemic – in harvested C orsican P ine P inus nigra laricio woods, with the aim of mitigating the impact of timber harvest on the bird. Comparison of occupied and unoccupied plots showed that this bird is found mostly in pure C orsican P ine stands, and is absent when more than 50% of trees are not this species. Nests were built in decaying pine snags between 20 and 100 cm diameter at breast height (dbh), but birds avoided stands with live pines < 70 cm dbh, and selected stands with pines > 80 cm dbh. Conservation of C orsican N uthatch therefore depends on maintaining harvest rotations of more than 200 years, reducing the size of felling coupes in clear‐cutting systems or, preferably, practising selective cutting, maintaining a sufficient density of old trees and snags, and checking the encroachment of other tree species into C orsican P ine stands.