| Experimental test of postfire management in pine forests: impact of salvage logging versus partial cutting and nonintervention on bird-species assemblages. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 20015262 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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There is an intense debate about the effects of postfire salvage logging versus nonintervention policies on regeneration of forest communities, but scant information from experimental studies is available. We manipulated a burned forest area on a Mediterranean mountain to experimentally analyze the effect of salvage logging on bird-species abundance, diversity, and assemblage composition. We used a randomized block design with three plots of approximately 25 ha each, established along an elevational gradient in a recently burned area in Sierra Nevada Natural and National Park (southeastern Spain). Three replicates of three treatments differing in postfire burned wood management were established per plot: salvage logging, nonintervention, and an intermediate degree of intervention (felling and lopping most of the trees but leaving all the biomass). Starting 1 year after the fire, we used point sampling to monitor bird abundance in each treatment for 2 consecutive years during the breeding and winter seasons (720 censuses total). Postfire burned-wood management altered species assemblages. Salvage logged areas had species typical of open- and early-successional habitats. Bird species that inhabit forests were still present in the unsalvaged treatments even though trees were burned, but were almost absent in salvage-logged areas. Indeed, the main dispersers of mid- and late-successional shrubs and trees, such as thrushes (Turdus spp.) and the European Jay (Garrulus glandarius) were almost restricted to unsalvaged treatments. Salvage logging might thus hamper the natural regeneration of the forest through its impact on assemblages of bird species. Moreover, salvage logging reduced species abundance by 50% and richness by 40%, approximately. The highest diversity at the landscape level (gamma diversity) resulted from a combination of all treatments. Salvage logging may be positive for bird conservation if combined in a mosaic with other, less-aggressive postfire management, but stand-wide management with harvest operations has undesirable conservation effects. |
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Authors:
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Jorge Castro; Gregorio Moreno-Rueda; José A Hódar |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Date: 2009-12-09 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology Volume: 24 ISSN: 1523-1739 ISO Abbreviation: Conserv. Biol. Publication Date: 2010 Jun |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2010-06-28 Completed Date: 2010-09-27 Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 9882301 Medline TA: Conserv Biol Country: United States |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 810-9 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Grupo de Ecología Terrestre. Departamento de Ecología, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain. jorge@ugr.es |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Animals Biodiversity Birds / classification* Fires* Pinus* |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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