| 1. |
- Edenius, Lars, et al.
(författare)
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Landscape level effects of modern forestry on bird communities in North Swedish boreal forests
- 1996
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Ingår i: Landscape Ecology. - 0921-2973 .- 1572-9761. - 0921-2973 ; 11:6, s. 325-338
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We address effects of large-scale forestry on landscape structure and the structure and composition of boreal bird communities in North Sweden. Specifically, we ask: after controlling for the effect of patch size, forest age and tree species composition, is there any residual effect attributable to the reduction in area of old forest? Pairs of landscape blocks (25 by 25 km) were selected to maximize area difference in human-induced disturbance, clear-cut as opposed to semi-natural old forest. Median distance to natural edge (wetlands, open water) from randomly selected points in forest was 250 and 200 m in high and low impact landscapes, respectively, indicating a high degree of 'natural' fragmentation of the pristine boreal landscape in the area. By contrast, median distance to clear-cut in uncut forest was 750 and 100 m, respectively. Clear-cuts in high impact landscapes were disproportionally more common in areas with contiguous forest land than in areas with spatially disjunct forest, implicating that forestry increases natural fragmentation of the landscape by subdividing larger forest tracts. Point counts along forestry roads showed that species richness and relative abundance of forest birds were higher in landscapes with low forestry impact. These differences can partly be explained by differences in age composition of forest and composition of tree species. After controlling for patch size, forest age and tree species composition, a significant effect of forestry impact remained for Sibirian species and the Tree pipit Anthus trivialis. Our results thus imply that this group of species and the Tree pipit may be sensitive to forest fragmentation. In contrast to previous Finnish studies, we found relatively small negative effects on relative abundance of species hypothesized to be negatively affected by large-scale clear-cutting forestry. However, our picture of the present does not contradict results from Finnish long-term population studies. Five factors may account for this: 1) clear-cut areas are not permanently transformed into other land use types, 2) planted forests are not completely inhabitable for species preferring older forest, 3) the majority of species in the regional pool are habitat generalists, 4) the region studied is still extensively covered with semi-natural forest, and 5) our study area is relatively close to contiguous boreal forest in Russia, a potential source area for taiga species.
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| 2. |
- Ottvall, Richard, et al.
(författare)
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Population trends for Swedish breeding birds
- 2009
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Ingår i: Ornis Svecica. - 1102-6812. ; 19:3, s. 117-192
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have assessed the population trends for the 255 bird species breeding in Sweden (including distinct subspecies), based on data for the last 30 and 10 years, respectively. Over the past 30 years more species have decreased (38%) than increased (32%) in numbers. In particular, formerly common farmland species have fared poorly but this is also true for some forest species. Over the past 10 years there are more species with increasing trends (29%) than there are species with decreasing trends (19%). Trends for several species in long-term decline have levelled off and have in some cases even started to increase. It is not known whether this recent change is a result of conservation efforts or simply that population numbers have stabilised at lower levels now permitted by the environment. It is therefore essential to initiate research devoted to finding factors directly linked to ongoing population changes, particularly for species in longterm decline. To cover population trends for all Swedish species additional monitoring programmes are needed, in particular on owls and in mountain habitats.
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