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Plantation Forests and Biodiversity: Oxymoron or Opportunity? pp 117–131Cite as

Impact of four silvicultural systems on birds in the Belgian Ardenne: implications for biodiversity in plantation forests

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Part of the book series: Topics in Biodiversity and Conservation ((TOBC,volume 9))

Abstract

Uneven-aged management of conifer plantations is proposed as a way to increase the value of these forests for the conservation of bird diversity. To test this assumption, we compared the impact of four common silvicultural systems on bird communities, defined by cutblock size (large in even-aged silvicultural systems/smaller in uneven-aged silvicultural systems) and tree species composition (spruce/beech) in the Belgian Ardenne where beech forests have been replaced by spruce plantations. The abundances of bird species were surveyed in young, medium-aged and mature stands in 3–5 forests per silvicultural system (66 plots in all). The effect of silvicultural systems on bird species richness, abundance and composition were analysed both at the plot and at the silvicultural system levels. In plots of a given age, beech stands were richer in species. The composition of bird species at the plot level was explained by stand age and tree composition, but weakly so by stand evenness. For the silvicultural systems, bird species richness was significantly higher in even-aged and in beech forests, and bird species composition depended on the silvicultural system. This study emphasises the importance of maintaining native beech stands for birds and suggests that uneven-aged management of conifer plantations does not provide a valuable improvement of bird diversity comparatively with even-aged systems.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR1201 Dynamiques forestières dans l’espace rural, INRA, Chemin de Borde Rouge, 31326, BP 52627, Castanet-tolosan, France

    Gaëtan du Bus de Warnaffe & Marc Deconchat

  2. Unité des Eaux et Forêts, Université catholique de Louvain, Place Croix du Sud 2 bte 9, 1348, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

    Gaëtan du Bus de Warnaffe

Authors
  1. Gaëtan du Bus de Warnaffe
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  2. Marc Deconchat
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marc Deconchat .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Scion (New Zealand Forest Research Institute), PO Box 29237, 8540, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Eckehard G. Brockerhoff

  2. INRA, 69 route d’Arcachon, Cestas Cedex, 33612, France

    Hervé Jactel

  3. U.S. Forest Service Research & Development, 1601 N. Kent Street, Arlington, VA, 22209, USA

    John A. Parrotta

  4. Forest Research Northern Research Station, Roslin, Midlothian, EH25 9SY, United Kingdom

    Christopher P. Quine

  5. IUCN The World Conservation Union Forest Conservation, rue Mauverney 28, 1196, Gland, Switzerland

    Jeffrey Sayer

  6. Dept. Biología Vegetal II, Universidad Complutense Fac. Farmacia, Plaza Ramon y Cajal, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    David L. Hawksworth

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du Bus de Warnaffe, G., Deconchat, M. (2008). Impact of four silvicultural systems on birds in the Belgian Ardenne: implications for biodiversity in plantation forests. In: Brockerhoff, E.G., Jactel, H., Parrotta, J.A., Quine, C.P., Sayer, J., Hawksworth, D.L. (eds) Plantation Forests and Biodiversity: Oxymoron or Opportunity? . Topics in Biodiversity and Conservation, vol 9. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2807-5_6

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