avian species richness in relation to intensive forest management practices in early seral tree plantations鸟类物种丰富度与密集的森林管理实践在早期的演替系列树种植园.pdfVIP

Avian Species Richness in Relation to Intensive Forest Management Practices in Early Seral Tree Plantations 1 2 1 1 3 3 Jay E. Jones *, Andrew J. Kroll , Jack Giovanini , Steven D. Duke , Tana M. Ellis , Matthew G. Betts 1 Statistics, Mathematics, and Operations Research, Weyerhaeuser NR, Federal Way, Washington, United States of America, 2 Timberlands Technology, Weyerhaeuser NR, Federal Way, Washington, United States of America, 3 Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, United States of America Abstract Background: Managers of landscapes dedicated to forest commodity production require information about how practices influence biological diversity. Individual species and communities may be threatened if management practices truncate or simplify forest age classes that are essential for reproduction and survival. For instance, the degradation and loss of complex diverse forest in young age classes have been associated with declines in forest-associated Neotropical migrant bird populations in the Pacific Northwest, USA. These declines may be exacerbated by intensive forest management practices that reduce hardwood and broadleaf shrub cover in order to promote growth of economically valuable tree species in plantations. Methodology and Principal Findings: We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to evaluate relationships between avian species richness and vegetation variables that reflect stand management intensity (primarily via herbicide application) on 212 tree plantations in the Coast Range, Oregon, USA. Specifically, we estimated the influence of broadleaf hardwood vegetation cover, which is reduced through herbic