Selection of fire-created snags at two spatial scales by cavity-nesting birds

Vicki A. Saab; Ree Brannon; Jonathan G. Dudley; Larry Donohoo; Dave Vanderzanden; Vicky Johnson; Henry Lachowski

Treesearch

Selection of fire-created snags at two spatial scales by cavity-nesting birds

Informally Refereed

Authors:

Vicki A. Saab, Ree Brannon, Jonathan G. Dudley, Larry Donohoo, Dave Vanderzanden, Vicky Johnson, Henry Lachowski

Year:

2002

Type:

General Technical Report

Station:

Rocky Mountain Research Station

Source:

In: Laudenslayer, William F., Jr.; Shea, Patrick J.; Valentine, Bradley E.; Weatherspoon, C. Phillip; Lisle, Thomas E., tech. coords. Proceedings of the symposium on the ecology and management of dead wood in western forests, Reno, Nevada, November 2-4, 1999. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-181. Albany, CA : U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station. p. 835-848.

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Abstract

We examined the use of snag stands by seven species of cavity-nesting birds from 1994-1998. Selection of snags was studied in logged and unlogged burned forests at two spatial scales: microhabitat (local vegetation characteristics) and landscape (composition and patterning of surrounding vegetation types). We modeled nest occurrence at the landscape scale by using Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery. At both spatial scales, we observed a continuum in habitat use with the extremes represented by black-backed and Lewis’s woodpeckers. A range of habitat conditions characteristic of black-backed and Lewis’s woodpeckers would likely incorporate habitat features necessary for nest occurrence of other members in the cavity-nesting bird community.

Parent Publication

Proceedings of the symposium on the ecology and management of dead wood in western forests

Keywords

snags, dead trees, fire effects, birds, habitat selection, microhabitats, stand characteristics, nesting, Boise National Forest, Idaho

Citation

Saab, Victoria A.; Brannon, Ree; Dudley, Jonathan; Donohoo, Larry; Vanderzanden, Dave; Johnson, Vicky; Lachowski, Henry. 2002. Selection of fire-created snags at two spatial scales by cavity-nesting birds. In: Laudenslayer, William F., Jr.; Shea, Patrick J.; Valentine, Bradley E.; Weatherspoon, C. Phillip; Lisle, Thomas E., tech. coords. Proceedings of the symposium on the ecology and management of dead wood in western forests, Reno, Nevada, November 2-4, 1999. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-181. Albany, CA : U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station. p. 835-848.