Table 5-7 — Songbird and habitat relations in Dou- 

 glas-fir ecosystems 



Disturbance tolerant 



Disturbance sensitive 



Dark-eyed junco 

 MacGillivray's warbler 

 Rufous hummingbird 

 American robin 

 Spotted towhee 

 Orange-crowned warbler 

 House wren 

 Black-headed grosbeak 

 Northern flicker 

 Song sparrow 

 White-crowned sparrow 

 Willow flycatcher 

 Olive-sided flycatcher 

 Fox sparrow 

 Lazuli bunting 

 Warbling vireo 



Hermit warbler 

 Townsend's warbler 

 Winter wren 



Chestnut-backed chickadee 

 Pacific-slope flycatcher 

 Golden-crowned kinglet 

 Red-breasted nuthatch 

 Steller's jay 



Hammond's flycatcher 

 Varied thrush 

 Hairy woodpecker 

 Gray jay 



Pileated woodpecker 

 Red-breasted sapsucker 

 Red crossbill 

 Brown creeper 



ues was explained by a model including two 

 vegetation variables: deciduous and coniferous 

 canopy cover. 



This study indicates that the field methods 

 used to survey songbirds and their habitat in 

 the southeastern United States also work in 

 the Pacific Northwest. A preliminary model 

 now exists to use Forest Health Monitoring 

 vegetation data to predict Bird Community 

 Index values for a stand. Thus, local habitat 

 structure can indicate whether bird commu- 

 nities should be dominated by species typical 

 of mature forests or those typical of disturbed, 

 early-successional habitat. These predictions 

 can be checked in the field against actual bird 

 communities to validate the model and deter- 

 mine whether other factors such as climate or 

 regional fragmentation of forests are also af- 

 fecting bird populations. 



CONCLUSIONS 



Limited baseline data from forest health 

 detection monitoring now exist for Douglas-fir 

 habitats in 13 Oregon and 12 Washington Pi- 

 lot Study plots sampled west of the Cascade 

 Range in the summer of 1994. Cooperators in 

 both states learned regular and quality-con- 

 trol protocols needed to remeasure these plots 



and start statewide future operational mea- 

 surements. All indicator measurements were 

 successfully completed with field methods 

 tested in 18 states, including California, since 

 1990. The total Pilot Study data set is small, 

 and interpretations must be used with caution. 



Seedling and lichen ground-cover percent- 

 ages ( 1 to 4%) were similar in Pilot Study and 

 about 200 California plots sampled in 1992- 

 95. Wetter environments and older stands in 

 the Northwest probably produced higher 

 ground percentages of ferns (18%), mosses 

 (35%), and shrubs (41%) plus more pole- and 

 sawtimber-sized trees. Most Pilot Study sap- 

 lings had either good or average vigor, indicat- 

 ing good general health; some differences were 

 found between hardwood and softwoods. More 

 than 95% of all Pilot Study trees had good 

 crown ratings as shown by normal foliage 

 transparency, good to average crown density, 

 and little severe dieback. Differences in Pilot 

 Study and California crown ratings were mini- 

 mal. Similarly, about 80% of sampled individu- 

 als across all three states had no damage 

 symptoms. Conks, broken tops and branches, 

 and decay indicators were the most common 

 damage classes. 



Forest canopies throughout the Northwest 

 have many large dead and live trees. Such 

 trees were successfully tallied in large full-hect- 

 are (2.47-acre) plots but not in small subplots. 

 Remeasurement and future work in Pacific 

 Coast states will require using larger plots. 

 Vegetation structure data were collected for 

 four strata in all plots. The greatest number 

 of individuals and species were tallied in those 

 strata (1 and 2) nearest the ground. Lichens 

 were found in all plots; the average number of 

 macrolichens per plot was 15. A songbird 

 habitat study produced a model that can use 

 vegetation structure data from Forest Health 

 Monitoring plots to predict whether expected 

 birds will be typical of mature or disturbed for- 

 est types. 



Monitoring — 77 



