Isn't there a much simpler way to maintain these valuable "early
succession" habitats?

Why not simply re-cut the older "early succession" habitats once they reach
 7 to 10 years of age? No need to cut those old trees.  So much cheaper  &
easier (and less manpower) to use a brush hog than a chain saw.

Actually the Electric Power Companies already do this along their
high-voltage right-of ways.  So why aren't they listed as  birding hot spots?
Sounds like an area for future research.

  Bob Powers





In a message dated 4/12/2015 9:49:32 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

There is  no doubt that seeing a fresh clearcut is extremely jarring.  I,
also,  used to believe that they were environmentally devasting but have
changed my  opinion for 3 main reasons:

1.  Amanda Rodewald, formerly of OSU  and now at Cornell Ornithology Lab,
is an amazingly good birder and someone  whose opinion I deeply respect.  A
few years ago she wrote an excellent  report titled "Managing Forest Birds in
Southeast Ohio: A Guide for Land  Managers" which was based on years of
research.  I don't know if this  listserv will allow hotlinks to be pasted or
not but I'll try:

http://www.obcinet.org/committees/ForestManagement_web.pdf

If  the link didn't work, it can be found by Googling the above title.

In  brief, the report states that woodland breeding birds in Ohio have
fared  fairly well in the last 50 years, whereas early successional and
grassland  dwelling birds have declined significantly, in no small part due to
habitat  loss.  A very surprising finding of the study was that even mature
forest  specialists (e.g., wood thrush and scarlet tanagers) are drawn to early
successional habitat right after fledging -- probably because of the dense
cover and abundant food (berries on brambles and insects).

Early  successional habitat is AMAZINGLY short-lived (only about 6 years
before it  has matured too much to provide the attraction to early
successional habitat  specialists (e.g., indigo buntings, yellow-breasted chat)) so it
must be  constantly re-disturbed to keep being a bird magnet.

Amanda's guide  gives specific recommendations on the sizes and placement
of the  clearcuts.  The most value comes from them being pretty large and
close  together.

2. There is a sound silvicultural reason for doing a  clearcut;
specifically there are some species of trees that not only thrive on  disturbance, they
rely on it.  Many species of oak fall into that  category -- they will not
regenerate in great numbers without serious  disturbance.  Historically it
was frequent spring fires but a clearcut is  a good alternative.  Which
brings me to the second person whose opinion I  deeply respect:  Jim McCormac.
His PowerPoint on the importance of  forest caterpillars to the health of
bird populations is amazing.  Oak  trees are incredibly important "caterpillar
factories" so we want to be sure  we've got a steady supply of oaks
up-and-coming.

3. My own personal  experience with driving past a clearcut on the way to
work.  It looked  like Hiroshima about 25 years ago and my opinion pretty
much was the same as  yours..."Shouldn't there be a law against that?".  But
within 2 years it  had probably the prettiest fall foliage that I've seen --
the trees had  sprouted back so thickly from the stumps that you couldn't
have walked through  the place.  The density of the foliage made the intensity
of the colors  incredible.  Now, 2 decades later, the early successional
aspect is long  gone but it is still a nice young forest.  Since then I've
learned the  first 2 points above that I didn't know then.


A nice quote from  Amanda's publication is:  No matter how a forest is
managed, whether  actively or passively, certain species will be favored and
others discouraged.  The best strategy depends upon the management goal.  State
forests offer  a unique opportunity to do coordinated forest management
with timelines over a  century and create habitat that is in significant
decline throughout the  Appalachian area.  My opinion about clearcuts has
definitely changed now  that I understand the place they have in the ecosystem.
Humans too often  want to keep things "status quo" whereas wildlife has evolved
under realms of  disturbance and we do a disservice to the wildlife by not
providing  disturbances.

Alan  Walter

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______________________________________________________________________

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