Three decades of avian research on the Bartlett Experimental Forest, New Hampshire, U.S.A.

Ornithological research from the Bartlett Experimental Forest in New Hampshire, U.S.A. has provided information useful for developing management practices for northern hardwoods forests and understanding factors affecting avian populations. This work also serves to illustrate numerous features and characteristics of experimental forests that facilitate research. One example is opportunities for long-term and interdisciplinary research, illustrated by the application of a 25-year data set on snag longevity collected as part of a silvicultural experiment to evaluate habitat conditions for cavity nesting birds. Experimental forests also provide a conduit for information to managers by virtue of their collocation with U.S National Forests (Stoleson and King, this issue). At the time bird research was initiated on the Bartlett Experimental Forest the potential for forest management to fragment habitat in forested landscapes in the northeast U.S.A. was unknown, because the only studies on this topic were from the Midwest or Mid-Atlantic States where forest patches are isolated by agricultural or suburban development. Research on the Bartlett Experimental Forest has provided managers with region-specific information on the potential for silviculture and associated development to fragment forests, indicating that unlike less forested landscapes, cowbirds (Molothrus ater) are rare, and that edges created by forest roads in extensively forested landscapes have little effect on mature forest birds. Research from the Bartlett Experimental Forest has also provided guidance to managers for providing habitat for shrubland birds, both in terms of silvicultural prescriptions (Yamasaki et al., in preparation) and patch area ( Costello et al., 2000). Experimental Forests also provide access to facilities and infrastructure, such as road networks, laboratory space and housing, to facilitate research requiring frequent access to sites, such as radio telemetry investigations ( King et al., 2006 and Chandler, 2006).

Research highlights▶ We illustrate the importance of avian research from the Bartlett Experimental Forest. ▶ This work shows the effects of silviculture and associated development on mature forest birds. ▶ This work has provided guidance to managers for providing habitat for shrubland birds. ▶ This work illustrates how experimental forests facilitate long-term and interdisciplinary research.