The biodiversity contribution of wood plantations: Contrasting the bird communities of Sweden’s protected and production oak forests

Published Date
Forest Ecology and Management
1 April 2016, Vol.365:51–60, doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2016.01.030

• Author 

• A. Felton ^a,,
• P.O. Hedwall ^a
• M. Lindbladh ^a
• T. Nyberg ^b
• A.M. Felton ^a
• E. Holmström ^a
• I. Wallin ^a
• M. Löf ^a
• J. Brunet ^a

• aSouthern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 49, Rörsjöv 1, 230 53 Alnarp, Sweden
• bSeven Continents, Davidshallsgatan 25A, 21145 Malmö, Sweden

Received 16 October 2015. Revised 20 January 2016. Accepted 20 January 2016. Available online 28 January 2016. 

Highlights

• •
  We studied the bird communities of Sweden’s protected and production oak forests.
• •
  Bird communities in production forests partially overlapped with protected forests.
• •
  Vulnerable and near threatened bird species occurred in production oak stands.
• •
  Production oak stands can complement habitats provided by protected oak forests.
• •
  Production oak stands can provide important bird habitats as well as other values.

Abstract

The oak-dominated woodlands and forests of northern Europe have experienced dramatic declines due to agriculture, urbanization, and conifer-dominated production forestry. These losses have had a substantial negative impact on biodiversity due to the large number of forest species which depend on oak and the environments oak-dominated forests provide. Production oak stands may serve as a means of supplementing or complementing the habitat provided by the limited remaining natural oak remnants in this region. Here we evaluate the extent to which oak plantations in temperate southern Sweden provide habitat and resources for bird communities, by surveying and contrasting the bird species composition and diversity found in mature and young production oak stands (5 and 8 replicates respectively) and protected oak-dominated remnant forests (5 replicates). The mature production stands possessed a bird community partially overlapping in bird species composition, and comparable in species richness (34 species) to that found within protected oak forests (39 species). Furthermore, the production oak forests surveyed hosted threatened or near threatened bird species, including black woodpecker (Dryocopus martius), goldcrest (Regulus regulus), starling (Sturnus vulgaris), and yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella). Though production oak forests cannot replace the habitat provided by protected oak forests, these stands do appear to provide conditions consistent with the habitat and resource requirements of a diverse cross-section of bird species in this region, including species of substantial conservation concern. Production oak forests thus have the capacity to make a positive contribution to biodiversity conservation, as well as providing a diverse range of goods and services to society.

Keywords

Bird assemblage

Forest management

Feeding guild

Nesting guild

Migrant

Silviculture

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• ⁎ 
  Corresponding author.

Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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