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Catalog
of Long Term Research Conducted by the Northeastern Research Station
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Catalog #71
| Title: |
Breeding Birds
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| Objective: |
To examine the effects of timber size class, forest type,
succession on breeding birds, especially neotropical migrants,
in the White Mountains. |
| Year Established: |
1979 |
| Year Completed: |
expected to continue |
| Site Description: |
Plots in White Mountains National Forest New Hampshire (NH)
and Maine (ME). Surveys were taken in NH and ME. Elevation Range
= 330 to 1240 meters.
Forest Type: Aspen, Birch, Hardwood-Hemlock, Swamp Hardwood,
Northern Red Oak, Oak-Pine, Balsam Fir, Pine, Spruce-Fir, Spruce,
Hemlock.
Age: Regenerating, Young/Poles, Mature, Old-Growth, All AgeStand. |
| Statistical Design: |
5 meter radius plots in 11 timber types and 4 age classes
for a total of 225 census plots. Plots are 100 meters apart.
Two 0.1-hectare habitat measurement plots are randomly chosen
from the 5 bird plots per forest type and age for a total of
90 habitat plots. Possibly more than 40% of sites can be relocated. |
| Likelihood of Locating Study Areas: |
40% |
| Experimental Treatments: |
Normal timber management practices |
| Sampling Methods: |
Relate breeding bird survey data to habitat variables by multiple
regression, group habitats into species associations by cluster
analyses. All eleven of the major forest types in New England
occur in White Mountain National Forest and successional stages
of each in the age structure produced through silvicultural
management. Data on bird distribution is collected during the
peak of the breeding season for most of the forest birds and
a minimum of 2 year's survey is needed. |
| Variables and Sampling Frequency: |
Dependent: The mean number of singing males (of a species)
seen or heard per plot per day. Bird survey taken annually since
1979. Bird counts were taken in plots only in the mornings during
breeding season. Number of singing males of each species was
recorded at each plot for a 4- minute period.
Independent: Vegetation was measured at 10 year intervals
(1979,1991) and included deciduous tree d.b.h. (to the nearest
cm), coniferous tree d.b.h., ratio of deciduous:coniferous
trees, deciduous tree basal area (m2/ha), coniferous tree
basal area (m2/ha), tree species richness, canopy height (m),
height to bottom of canopy (m), canopy width (m), crown closure
(%), stocking.
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| QA/QC Practices: |
Surveyors are only hired if they have experience in bird ID
by sight and sound. Potential problems include counting outside
plot radius and incorrectly identifying birds. |
| Data Storage: |
A PC-hard drive in Durham, NH holds all the raw data in DBASE
files. Hardcopies of raw data are stored in Amherst, MA. |
| Global Change Research Applications: |
Studies of Ecosystem Processes
Landscape Scale Studies |
| Data Availability: |
unknown |
| Publications and Reports: |
R.M. DeGraaf. 1987. Managing northern hardwoods for breeding
birds. In: R.D. Nyland, RD, ed. Managing northern hardwoods;
Faculty of Forestry Misc. Pub. 13; Syracuse, NY: State Univ.
of New York. 348-362.
R.M. DeGraaf. 1992. Effects of even-age management on forest
birds at Northern hardwood stand Interfaces. Forest Ecology
and Manage. 46: 95-110.
R.M. DeGraaf; Leak, W.B.; Yamasaki, M.; Lanier, J.W. 1992.
New England wildlife: management of forested habitats. Gen.
Tech. Rep. NE-144. Radnor, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 271
p.
R.M. DeGraaf; Rudis, D.D. 1986. New England wildlife: habitat,
natural history and distribution. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-108.
Broomall, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,
Northeastern Forest Experiment Station. 491 p.
R.M. DeGraaf; Rudis, DD 1990. Herpetofaunal species composition
and relative abundance among three New England forest types.
Forestry Ecology and Manage. 32: 155-165.
R.M. DeGraaf; Angelstam, P. 1993. Effects of timber size-class
on predation of artificial nests in extensive forest. Forest
Ecology and Manage. 61: 127-136.
R.M. DeGraaf; Snyder, F.P.; Hill, B.J. 1991. Small mammal
habitat association in poletimber and sawtimber stands of
four forest cover types. Forest Ecology and Manage. 46: 227-242.
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| Contact: |
Richard DeGraaf, USDA Forest Service, Holdsworth Hall, University
of Massachusetts, P.O. Box 34230, Amherst MA 01003. (413) 545-0357 |
| Cooperation: |
White Mountain National Forest, Laconia, New Hampshire. |
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