Avian population ecology and functional connectivity in managed forest landscapes

最终，自然资源管理影响个体生物。人们通常认为，移动的物种的个体会简单地迁移到其他地方，以避免新的干扰地区，但很少有研究证实这一点。在2006年，我们建立了一套实验地块，我们标记了几乎所有的雄性候鸟物种（烤箱鸟）的一半，这些地块的治疗之前，通过选择收获在明年冬天。这种收获处理去除了30-40%的木材体积。从那以后，我们一直在监测烤箱鸟种群和单独标记的雄性的反应。我们还监测了布朗爬山虎的反应，另一种森林鸟类，是一个全年的居民或短距离的移民在研究区域。令人惊讶的是，在收获后的第一年，几乎同样多的雄性炉鸟返回到他们的领土在控制。然而，4年后，2006年队列中的鸟类比例仍然低于对照组。我们将继续这项研究，以回答以下问题：（1）2006年烤箱鸟遭受了更高的死亡率在处理地块比对照？(2)如果是这样，移民是否保持了处理地块中的灶鸟密度？(3)这些移民来自哪个地区？(4)布朗爬山虎和烤箱鸟的繁殖成功率是否会随着巢穴捕食者的数量而波动，并最终对种子生产的周期做出反应？(5)这些现象是否受到收获处理的影响？这两种鸟类目前都不罕见，但它们都对它们分布范围内的森林很敏感。因此，这项研究将提供信息，这将是至关重要的，以确保积极的保护战略的目的是保持健康的人口，这些和生态相似的物种。如果我们要解决生物多样性丧失的根本原因，预防性研究应得到与物种恢复同样多的关注。到目前为止，我们的工作已经影响了N. B。森林管理政策，特别是确定具有高养护价值的森林的特点。

Ultimately, natural resource management influences individual organisms. It is often assumed that individuals of mobile species will simply move elsewhere to avoid newly-disturbed areas but few studies have been conducted to confirm this. In 2006, we established a set of experimental plots and we marked nearly all males of a migratory bird species (Ovenbird) prior to the treatment of half of these plots through selection harvesting during the next winter. This harvest treatment removed 30-40% of the wood volume. We have monitored the response of Ovenbird populations and individually-marked males ever since. We have also monitored the response of the Brown Creeper, another forest bird species that is a year-round resident or short-distance migrant in the study region. Surprisingly, in the first year after harvesting, almost as many male Ovenbirds returned to their territory as in the controls. However, 4 years after, a lower proportion of birds from the 2006 cohort are still present in treated plots than in controls. We will pursue this research to answer the following questions: (1) have the 2006 Ovenbirds suffered a higher mortality in treated plots than in controls? (2) If so, does immigration maintain the density of Ovenbirds in treated plots? (3) What is the approximate region from which these immigrants come from? (4) Does the reproductive success of the Brown Creeper and the Ovenbird fluctuate with the abundance of nest predators and, ultimately, in response to cycles in seed production? (5) Are these phenomena influenced by the harvest treatment? Neither of these bird species is currently rare but both are sensitive to forestry across their range. This research will thus provide information that will be critical to ensure that proactive conservation strategies are designed to maintain healthy populations of these and ecologically-similar species. Preventive research should receive as much attention as species recovery if we are to address the ultimate causes of biodiversity loss. So far, our work has influenced N.B. forest management policy, specifically to characterize forests of high conservation value.