Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Maintaining biodiversity across landscapes requires continuous monitoring. For birds, their sounds play a crucial role in monitoring populations as they facilitate mate selection, resource defence, and species recognition, and can signal divergent speciation. In this study, I aimed to evaluate how restoration measures in a managed forest landscape, affect bird species richness, activity and occurrence of indicator species. The study was conducted in Färna Ecopark, Sweden. This study draws on data from two sources: three restored and three unrestored stands included in a pilot study, and an additional 15 stands that were part of a larger, separate full study. To gather information about birds, one audio box was placed in the center in each stand. In addition to audio recordings of birds, data on forest attributes across the different stands was collected. I identified the bird species in the recordings from each audio box, relying on distinctive vocalizations and established identification methods. The results suggested that the restoration measures influenced the bird activity and species composition, but not species richness. No differences were neither found in species richness among red-listed species or indicator species associated with broadleaf forests. The lack of differences in species richness may indicate that the restoration measures applied have limited immediate impact on species richness. However, bird activity of red-listed species differed significantly between target and unrestored stands. These findings indicate that restoration benefit habitat quality for birds and highlight the importance of continued restoration efforts.