AVIS-IBIS

Birds of Indian Subcontinent

Hierarchical Comparisons of Breeding Birds in Old-Growth Conifer-Hardwood Forest on the Appalachian Plateau

Publication Type:Journal Article
Year of Publication:1999
Authors:J. Haney, C
Journal:The Wilson Bulletin
Volume:111
Issue:1
Date Published:1999
ISBN Number:00435643
Keywords:Certhia, Certhia americana, Certhiidae, Dendroica, Dryobates, Dryobates villosus, Empidonax, Leuconotopicus, Leuconotopicus villosus, Mohoua, Mohoua novaeseelandiae, Nannus, Nannus hiemalis, Nannus troglodytes, Picidae, Picoides, Picoides villosus, Regulidae, Regulus, Regulus satrapa, Satrapa, Sitta, Sitta canadensis, Sitta europaea, Sittidae, Troglodytes, Troglodytes hiemalis, Troglodytes troglodytes, Troglodytidae
Abstract:I compared relative abundances of breeding birds in old-growth forest (≥300 years old) to surrounding landscapes using data from the Breeding Bird Census (BBC) and Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA). Eleven study plots (148 ha total) were established in relict, presettlement hemlock-white pine-northern hardwood (Tsuga canadensis-Pinus strobus) forest on the northern Appalachian Plateau, Pennsylvania. Of 56 breeding species recorded in old-growth forest, 34% were either uncommon (≤25% of BBA blocks) or rare (≤10% of BBA blocks) in adjacent landscape units. A species accumulation curve indicated that about 40 species recurred in old-growth habitat. This avian community included species less likely to occur in oldgrowth, forest interior species showing a statistically neutral relationship to oldgrowth, and habitat specialists more likely to reside in oldgrowth than in the landscape at large. The last group included several taxa linked to structural features of oldgrowth elsewhere in North America: Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus), Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis), Brown Creeper (Certhia americana), Winter Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes), Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa), Empidonax flycatchers, and several species of arboreal Dendroica warblers.
URL:http://www.jstor.org/stable/4164033
Short Title:The Wilson Bulletin
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