Seasonal bird communities in Shelterwood harvests and unmanaged mature forest

Effective bird conservation planning requires consideration of year-round habitat requirements. We evaluated how bird communities differed across seasons, and between young shelterwood (SW) and unmanaged mature (M) hardwood forests over 8 years. We detected 3952 individuals of 82 bird species within transects. Total abundance, richness, and diversity were highest in summer and lowest in winter. Richness was greater in SW than M during all seasons; abundance and diversity were greater in SW during summer, fall, and spring. Community composition differed between SW and M during all seasons except winter. Within seasons, abundance of most analyzed species was greater in SW than M or similar between the treatments. In SW young forest habitat suitability for most species (except indigo buntings) persisted for at least 8 years. Residency guilds and some species showed greater habitat selectivity in some seasons (heavier use of SW) than others (similar use of both SW and M). Our study illustrates the important role of young forests in promoting bird diversity year-round. However, knowledge gaps remain regarding bird use of all forest age-classes during all seasons, and how long dynamically changing young forests support more birds and bird species than mature forest during non-breeding seasons.