Numerical and spatial response of birds to group-selection timber harvesting

---

Relatively few studies have examined the ecological effects of group-selection timber harvesting, and nearly all have been short-term and have lacked experimental manipulations that allow pre- and posttreatment comparisons. Scientists at the Holt Research Forest in southern Maine have been documenting the effects of a group-selection timber harvest on birds as part of a long-term (1983 to present) pine-oak forest ecosystem study. As part of this study, we examined the first 20 years of these data (5 years of pretreatment data and 15 years of posttreatment data) for changes in abundance and spatial distribution of birds in response to the small openings created by the first cycle of a group-selection harvest. The results of this study were published in Conservation Biology (PDF) and Wildlife Society Bulletin (PDF).