Salvage logging and subsequent post‐windthrow management diminish forest bird communities for two decades

Abstract

Abstract Post‐disturbance forest management is known to impair biodiversity, including bird communities, but most studies focus on short‐term effects of salvage logging, without recognition of the cumulative, lasting impact of collective post‐disturbance silvicultural practices. We tracked bird community succession in a temperate pine forest from 5 to 19 years after wind disturbance in managed and unmanaged windthrow areas, covering the period from gap creation to early canopy regeneration and comparing it to nearby production forest unaffected by wind disturbance. Bird communities of unmanaged windthrow were consistently the richest in terms of bird abundance and richness. They hosted comparable forest bird diversity to unaffected production stands throughout the study period, as well as a substantial diversity of farmland birds. Managed and unmanaged windthrows followed two distinct successional pathways and did not converge. Despite the bird communities in both windthrows gradually resembling those found in undisturbed forests as the canopy regenerated, each type of windthrow and the unaffected production forest maintained distinct communities until the end of the study. Synthesis and applications. Restraining from any active post‐windthrow management sets bird succession on a distinct pathway, leading to unique and diverse bird communities. We advocate viewing natural disturbances as cost‐effective ecosystem restoration tools, provided no active management is implemented. Furthermore, we advise against using the term ‘salvage logging’ to refer to collective post‐disturbance silvicultural practices, as its varying interpretation may lead to growing confusion as the number of long‐term studies increase.