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This multi-year project tests the hypothesis that bird communities in landscapes managed for timber output are similar to those in landscapes subject only to natural disturbances. Using unlimited-radius point counts, omni-directional microphones called "CVX units", and area searches, birds were surveyed in harvested, burned, and protected landscape types in the Area of the Undertaking, Ontario. Atlas squares (10 km x 10 km) were selected as the sampling unit and were randomly stratified to ensure that the three landscape types were adequately represented. Each point was geo-referenced and the vegetative characteristics were assessed so that future changes in the avifauna and flora can be detected.
In the first field season (2002), a total of 78 atlas squares in the northeastern region of the Area of the Undertaking were surveyed and approximately 1800 point counts were performed. Overall, 121 bird species were detected during point counts. In old logged landscapes, total bird abundance, corrected for sampling effort, was higher than in old burned and protected landscapes. However, the reverse pattern was found for species richness with fewer species detected in protected landscapes as opposed to old harvested and old burned landscapes. During the 2003 field season, approximately 8000 points were sampled in 330 atlas squares in the Area of the Undertaking, resulting in one of the largest landscape-level studies of forest management in Canada.
The results of this project will be useful for both industry and government by providing a mechanism for evaluating the impacts of current forestry practices on avian biodiversity, and by providing baseline data for future comparison.
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