Structure of small mammal communities on clearings in managed Central European forests

Clear-cutting followed by direct planting currently remains the predominant forest management practice in managed forests in Central Europe. However, this practice may have a pronounced negative effect on the biodiversity of forest ecosystems including small mammals. In this study we investigated the effect of a range of environmental variables on diversity and structure of the small mammal community in relatively small-sized clear-cuts. During 2007-2010 the structure of small mammal communities was assessed at 198 small-sized clearings (up to 2 ha) in 11 areas of managed forest in the Czech Republic. The complete trapping effort was 75,072 trap-nights. Overall 8,542 small mammals belonging to 17 species were caught, including forest species as well as species of open habitats. The diversity and relative abundance of small mammal communities in these small clearings was comparable to that described in the literature for old mature forests. Differences in structure of small mammal communities in our study clearings were mostly influenced by habitat structure, primarily the structure of the herb layer, and partially by altitude (climatic conditions) and size of the clearing. No effect of geographic location (latitudinal and/or longitudinal effect) on small mammal community structure or diversity was detected. Our results indicate that the practice of felling within relatively small-sized clearings may help preserve the diversity of small mammal community in managed forests and might assist in maintaining forest biodiversity by comparison to the more widespread current practice of larger clear-cuts. Re-forestation using small-sized clearings would thus offer a compromise between economic and ecological approaches to forest management, protecting a higher biodiversity of forest ecosystems.