The goal of this study is to examine effects of Maine’s forest harvest practices employed in the northern deciduous/coniferous forest on diversity and abundance of the forest bird community of selected species of conservation interest (e.g., Bay-breasted Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Cape May Warbler). The study will document bird communities in manipulated stands compared to reference stands and within the larger landscape context. Time since harvest will range from > 60 years (i.e., mature residual stands) to 17-40 years in regenerating clearcuts, and 14-18 years since initial harvest entry in selection harvest, shelterwood establishment, shelterwood overstory removal stands, with a gradient of harvest intensity from clearcut with herbicide to selection, to shelterwood establishment, to shelterwood overstory removal. This project is a collaboration of the US Geological Survey Maine Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, the USGS West Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, the University of Maine, the Cooperative Forestry Research Unit, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The information learned in this study will inform our understanding of avian responses to stand age and structure as relates to habitat quality and in the context of changing land use practices in the northern forest landscape.
