Spruce (Picea abies L.) planting leads post-clearcut bird assemblages to a novel successional pathway—a comparative study in hemiboreal mixed forests

Key message

Bird assemblages in planted spruce (Picea abies L.) forests were compositionally distinct from those in naturally regenerated mixed stands. Despite rapid stand development on productive soils, even-aged silviculture cannot host most old-forest species. However, their habitat quality could be supported in landscape mosaics with retention forestry and set-asides.

Keywords
Biodiversity; Natural regeneration; Old-forest birds; Resident birds; Planted forest; Sustainable forest management

Publication
Pass, E., Kont, R. & Lõhmus, A. Spruce (Picea abies L.) planting leads post-clearcut bird assemblages to a novel successional pathway—a comparative study in hemiboreal mixed forests. Annals of Forest Science 79, 20 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13595-022-01138-8

Data and/or Code availability
The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the Zenodo repository. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6323328

Handling Editor
Aurélien Sallé