Bird communities in hemiboreal old-growth forests: The roles of food supply, stand structure, and site type

Key factors causing the difference of wildlife populations in natural and managed forests are an important field of ecosystem and biodiversity research. To explore the factors contributing to bird-community features in the poorly studied European natural hemiboreal forests, we carried out a comparative study in old-growth and mature stands of five site types in Estonia. The mature stands were of clear-cut origin and managed for timber production. Old-growth hosted both more diverse and more abundant bird communities than mature stands, which does not support the putative ‘old-growth syndrome’ (high diversity at a low density) described previously in temperate Europe. Site-type specificity of bird communities was also more pronounced in old-growth, indicating a timber-harvesting induced process of biotic homogenization. In particular, natural swamp forests had characteristic bird species and those communities may be additionally sensitive to artificial drainage. In terms of invertebrate food supply, the availability of snails, rather than of insects, was related to bird-community characteristics; however, the influence of snails was due to one snail-poor forest type (Vaccinium type pine stands), not management. The abundance of coarse woody debris was the main structural feature affecting bird communities; tree-size variation was additionally important for species richness. A significant unexplained ‘old-growth’ effect remained even after the variables describing food supply and stand structure were taken into account. Our results imply the distinct importance of old-growth of different site types for hemiboreal bird communities. However, we did not obtain any evidence of different key factors structuring the bird communities in old-growth and mature stands.

► Old-growth hosted more diverse and more abundant bird communities than mature stands.
► That difference can be explained by microhabitat abundance and stand heterogeneity.
► The availability of snails, rather than of insect food, affected the bird-communities.
► Timber harvesting caused biotic homogenization of site-type specific bird communities.