Avian response to bottomland hardwood reforestation: the first 10 years

Published source details Twedt D.J., Wilson R.R., Henne-Kerr J.L. & Grosshuesch D.A. (2002) Avian response to bottomland hardwood reforestation: the first 10 years. Restoration Ecology, 10, 645-655.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Restore or create forests Action Link

Restore or create forests

A replicated study in the summers of 1996-1997 at 20 restored bottomland forest sites in the Mississippi floodplain in Mississippi and Louisiana, USA (Twedt et al. 2002), found that birds used young (less than ten year-old) restored cottonwood Populus deltoides forests more than similarly aged restored oak Quercus spp. forests (average of 380-449 territories/100 ha, 14-20 species/plot and Shannon index of 2.0-2.5 for 13 cottonwood stands vs. 257 territories/100 ha, 8 species/plot and Shannon index of 1.5 for seven oak stands). Conservation value (calculated as density multiplied by a conservation priority score) was highest for 5-9 year-old cottonwood stands but did not differ between oak stands and younger (2-4 year-old) cottonwood. Nest survival and predation rates did not differ between forest types, but brood parasitism was higher on 5-9 year-old cottonwood (23% of 580 nests) than young cottonwood (3% of 93 nests) or oak (1% of 152 nests) stands. The slower-growing oak stands were used more by open-country species.