Influence of postfire salvage logging on black-backed woodpecker nest-site selection and nest survival

Abstract

Post-fire timber harvest practices (i.e. post-fire salvage logging) on public lands are a highly contentious issue in the western United States. Harvest of burned trees impacts a number of species, particularly those specialized for using post-wildfire habitats. We assessed the effects of post-fire salvage logging on black-backed woodpecker (Picoides arcticus) nest-site selection and nest survival within burned, mixed conifer forests of south-central Oregon. Multiple treatment and control plots were surveyed two years pre-logging (2003-04) and two years post-logging (2005-06). Our objectives were to (a) examine the effects of salvage logging on black-backed woodpecker nest site selection and nest survival at coarse and fine spatial scales (b) elucidate additional habitat and abiotic factors predicting black-back nest occurrence and survival, and (c) determine if those habitat covariates influencing nest site selection coincide with those influencing nest survival. A total of 210 black-backed woodpecker nests were monitored during the four year postfire period. Postfire salvage logging did not significantly reduce snag numbers or diameters within treatment units. Based upon our best nest-site selection model, black-backed woodpecker nest locations were different from non-nest points in habitat characteristics at both fine and coarse spatial scales, with variables related to surrounding snag density being the strongest predictors.

Citation

Forristal, Christopher David. 2009. Influence of postfire salvage logging on black-backed woodpecker nest-site selection and nest survival. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 93 p. Thesis.