THE AUTHORS 



RESEARCH SUMMARY 



BRET W. TOBALSKE is a Master of Arts student in 

 zoology at the University of Montana in Missoula. He 

 earned a B.S. degree in zoology from Southern Illinois 

 University at Carbondale in 1988. His research inter- 

 ests are in avian behavioral and morphological ecology. 



RAYMOND C. SHEARER received a B.S. degree in 

 timber management in 1957 and an M.S. degree in 

 silviculture in 1959, both from Utah State University in 

 Logan, and a Ph.D. degree in forest ecology in 1985 

 from the University of Montana, Missoula. Since 1957 

 he has been a research silviculturist, assigned to the 

 Station's Silviculture of Montane and Subalpine Forest 

 Ecosystems research work unit at the Forestry Sci- 

 ences Laboratory in Missoula, MI. His primary assign- 

 ment has been the study of natural and artificial regen- 

 eration of western larch and associated species. 



RICHARD L. HUTTO is a professor of biology with the 

 University of Montana in Missoula. He earned a B.A. 

 degree in zootogy from UCLA in 1971, an M.S. degree 

 in biology from Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, 

 in 1973, and a Ph.D. degree in biology from UCLA in 

 1977. His research has included studies of the ecology 

 of migratory landbirds during the breeding season in 

 western North America, and during the winter season in 

 western Mexico. He is currently studying how local and 

 landscape-level parameters influence the use of postfire 

 habitats by songbirds in the Northern Rockies. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



Special thanks to Sallie Hejl and Dave Turner for 

 assistance in data analysis. James Hasbrouk prepared 

 a preharvest survey on the study area, vital to field 

 planning, and Jack Schmidt provided extensive field 

 and computer support. Volunteers who assisted 

 in various ways with fieldwork include Andrea 

 Stephens, Debbie Conway, Bettina Gerlemann, Gina 

 Berkemann, Tom O'Brien, Bart Tobalske, and Jean 

 Totebusch. Funding for this study was provided by the 

 Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. A Five 

 Valleys Audubon Society 1990 Field Biology Research 

 Award was granted to the lead author to assist with 

 aspects of the study related to red-naped sapsuckers. 



We detected differences in population sizes of 

 10 species of breeding birds between harvested and 

 adjacent uncut areas following a winter (1988-89) seed 

 tree removal on Coram Experimental Forest in north- 

 western Montana. Cutting units were relatively small, 

 and live paper birch {Betula papyrifera), quaking aspen 

 {Populus tremuloides), and black cottonwood (Populus 

 trichocarpa) trees as well as conifer and broadleaf 

 snags were left standing within the cutting units. During 

 the summers of 1989 and 1990, tree swallows [Tachy- 

 cineta bicoloi) were abundant in clearcuts and not 

 detected in untagged stands. Similarly, dark-eyed 

 juncos {Junco hyemalis) and pine siskins {Carduelis 

 pinus) were more common within clearcut and partially 

 cut habitats than within uncut stands. Golden-crowned 

 kinglets {Regulus satrapa), Swainson's thrushes {Cath- 

 arus ustulatus), varied thrushes (Ixoreus naevius), and 

 Townsend's warblers (Dendroica townsendi) were less 

 abundant in the cut areas. Ruby-crowned kinglets 

 {Regulus calendula) and fox sparrows {Passerella 

 iliaca) were least abundant in both clearcut and contigu- 

 ous old-growth stands. Chipping sparrows {Spizella 

 passerina) were common in logged stands and inter- 

 spersed, untagged forest, and relatively rare in 

 contiguous old growth. 



Foliage-foraging species and tree gleaners were less 

 abundant in harvested areas, while flycatching species 

 and ground foragers were more common there. Of the 

 nesting guilds, conifer tree-nesting species were least 

 abundant in clearcuts, and ground nesters were more 

 comnrran within the cutover habitats. 



The variattan in relative abundance among bird 

 species in logged and untagged stands points out that 

 management of forest resources for birds should focus 

 on diverse community-level habitat needs. If mitigation 

 for tree-dependent species is an objective, we recom- 

 mend retaining within cutting units broadleaf trees 

 including paper birch, quaking aspen, and black cotton- 

 wood, and snags of all tree species. Slash piles may 

 also contribute to the suitability of logged habitat for 

 certain bird species, and future research should attempt 

 to quantify this factor. 



The use of trade or firm names in this publication is for reader information and does not 

 imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of any product or sen/ice. 



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