Amy M. Barry | Search USGS

USGS2018

Use of created snags by cavity‐nesting birds across 25 years

Snags are important habitat features for many forest‐dwelling species, so reductions in the number of snags can lead to the loss of biodiversity in forest ecosystems. Intentional snag creation is often used in managed forests to mitigate the long‐term declines of naturally created snags, yet information regarding the use of snags by wildlife across long timescales (>20 yr) is lacking and prevents a complete understanding of how the value of created snags change through time. We used a long‐term experiment to assess how harvest treatment (i.e., small‐patch group selection, 2‐story, and clearcut) and snag configuration (i.e., scattered and clustered) influenced nesting in and foraging on 25–27‐year‐old Douglas‐fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii ) snags by cavity‐nesting birds. In addition, we compared our contemporary measures of bird use to estimates obtained from historical surveys conducted on the same group of snags to quantify how bird use changed over time. Despite observing created snags for >750 hours across 2 consecutive breeding seasons, we found limited evidence of nesting activity. Only 11% of created snags were used for breeding, with nesting attempts by 4 bird species ( n = 36 nests); however, we detected 12 cavity‐nesting species present on our study sites. Furthermore, nearly all nests (94%) belonged to the chestnut‐backed chickadee ( Poecile rufescens ), a weak cavity‐excavating species that requires well‐decayed wood for creating nest cavities. Our surveys also recorded few observations of birds using created snags as foraging substrates, with only 1 foraging event recorded for every 20 hours of observation. We detected 82% fewer nests and recorded 7% fewer foraging observations during contemporary field work despite spending >7.5 times more effort observing created snags relative to historical surveys. We conclude that 25–27‐year‐old created Douglas‐fir snags provided limited opportunities for nesting and foraging by most cavity‐nesting birds, and that the period of greatest use by this group occurred within 5–15 years of creation.

Journal of Wildlife Management↗

USGS2017

Long-term dynamics and characteristics of snags created for wildlife habitat

Snags provide essential habitat for numerous organisms and are therefore critical to the long-term maintenance of forest biodiversity. Resource managers often use snag creation to mitigate the purposeful removal of snags at the time of harvest, but information regarding how created snags change over long timescales (>20 y) is absent from the literature. In this study, we evaluated the extent to which characteristics of large (>30 cm diameter at breast height [DBH]) Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii ) snags created by topping had changed after 25–27 y. We also tested whether different harvest treatments and snag configurations influenced present-day snag characteristics. Of 690 snags created in 1989–1991, 91% remained standing during contemporary surveys and 65% remained unbroken along the bole. Although most snags were standing, we detected increased bark loss and breaking along the bole relative to prior surveys conducted on the same pool of snags. Although snag characteristics were not strongly influenced by snag configuration, we found that snags in one harvest treatment (group selection) experienced less bark loss and had lower evidence of use by cavity-nesting birds (as measured by total cavity cover) relative to snags created with clearcut and two-story harvest treatments. Our results indicate that Douglas-fir snags created by topping can remain standing for long time-periods (≥25 y) in managed forests, and that the influence of harvest treatment on decay patterns and subsequent use by wildlife is an important consideration when intentionally creating snags for wildlife habitat.

Forest Ecology and Management↗