Native Bird HabitatChris Liazos

The Conservation Value of Silvicultural Systems Northeastern Forest Bird Communities During the or Breeding and Post-fledging Seasons in Southwestern New Hampshire

Forest bird communities (FBCs) in the northeastern U.S. are declining due to the loss of young and structurally complex mature forests. Silviculture serves as a conservation tool by creating or modifying forest traits that benefit FBCs, as measured through conservation-value indexes using Partners-in-Flight (PIF) scores. Over two years, we will sample more than 180 points across southwestern New Hampshire to assess the conservation value of both breeding and post-fledging FBCs across various silvicultural systems. Preliminary results indicate that managed areas support higher conservation value, with basal area as a strong predictor for breeding FBCs; we anticipate similar findings for post-fledging FBCs in 2025.