A comparison of bird communities in burned and salvage-logged, clearcut, and forested Florida sand pine scrub

Published source details Greenberg C.H., Harris L.D. & Neary D.G. (1995) A comparison of bird communities in burned and salvage-logged, clearcut, and forested Florida sand pine scrub. The Wilson Bulletin, 107, 40-54.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Clearcut and re-seed forests Action Link
	Use prescribed burning on pine forests Action Link
	Manually control or remove midstorey and ground-level vegetation (including mowing, chaining, cutting etc) in forests Action Link

Clearcut and re-seed forests

A replicated study in 1991 in Ocala National Forest, an area of sand pine Pinus clausa scrub in Florida, USA (Greenberg et al. 1995), found similar densities and species richness of birds in areas that were clearcut and ‘brake-seeded’ (i.e. direct seeding on to small, machine-made mounds), compared with areas that were burned, or were clearcut with the understorey also mown. Results were similar for the breeding season (389 birds/km²and five species for clearcut and re seeded areas vs. 581 birds/km², six species for clearcut and mown; 389 birds/km², five species for burned) and winter (894 birds/km²and 11 species for clearcut and re seeded areas vs. 594 birds/km², ten species for clearcut and mown; 531 birds/km², 12 species for burned). Shrub-nesting species were most abundant in mown plots. In summer, the threatened Florida scrub-jay Aphelocoma coerulescens was evenly distributed across plots, in winter it was found only in re-seeded plots. All management occurred 5-7 years before the study in 1991.
Use prescribed burning on pine forests

A replicated study in 1991 in Ocala National Forest, an area of sand pine scrub in Florida, USA (Greenberg et al. 1995), found similar bird densities and species richness in areas that were burned, compared to areas that were clearcut and ‘brake-seeded’. This study is discussed in detail in ‘Clearcut and re-seed forests’.
Manually control or remove midstorey and ground-level vegetation (including mowing, chaining, cutting etc) in forests

A replicated study in 1991 in Ocala National Forest, an area of sand pine Pinus clausa scrub in Florida, USA (Greenberg et al. 1995), found similar densities and species richness of birds in areas that were clearcut and had the understorey mown, compared to areas that were clearcut and ‘brake-seeded’. This study is discussed in detail in ‘Clearcut and re-seed forests’.