Bird diversity in Turkey oak (Quercus cerris) coppices and transitory stands in the northern Apennines

Abstract

In the last decades, socio-economical changes occurred in Italy have deeply affected woodland, particularly coppices. Although most of them, above all in public land, are being converted to high forests, in the last years coppices have been experiencing an increase in their use. The claimed need to reconcile silviculture and biodiversity conservation calls for a better understanding of the effects of coppice management practices on the different components of biodiversity. Using birds as environmental indicators, we studied differences in species composition and diversity of bird communities in coppices and “transitory stands” (ex-coppices recently converted in high stands) in the Alpe della Luna forest (Arezzo), in Tuscan Apennines. Relative frequency of each species and the mean abundance and richness at point level were compared among forest typologies. To test the effects of different management types on bird communities, descriptive models (GLM) have been applied using stand age and the amount of non-forest habitats as predictors. Our results show that 34.4% of the species (57.1% considering only forest species) are affected by the forest management type: 9 species (7 considering only forest species) were more common in transitory stands, while only two (of which one considered forest species) in coppices. Overall, richness is higher in transitory stands, where species of mature forests have been found; on the contrary, coppices did not host any open habitat species, as stated in other studies. Richness in forest species is positively related to stand age for both coppice and transitory stands; the amount of open habitats is positively correlated with number of open-habitat species, but it did not negatively affect richness in forest species that apparently did not suffer for any boundary effect.

Keywords

• Birds
• Coppice
• Conversion into high forest
• Turkey oak
• GLM