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Implications of Stand Adjacency and Edge for Birds in a Managed Forest EcosystemFoggia, Jennifer Rose 11 December 2015 (has links)
Managed forest ecosystems contribute to conservation of wildlife, and generally yield heterogeneous landscapes with patches that support different sessile organisms. Edges or boundaries between adjacent forest patches are often ecologically distinct from patch interiors and can have direct influences on community dynamics and ecosystem functioning near them. To quantify effects of edge and adjacent habitat conditions on avian metrics, I used a hierarchical multi-species occupancy model that considered individual species resource requirements to estimate community occupancy patterns, and used artificial nest surveys to model daily nest survival (DNS) using a Bayesian framework. Results indicated that adjacent forest conditions influenced bird population dynamics in focal forest stands, provided little evidence of an edge effect on avian community response patterns, and showed highest DNS in newly established forest stands. My results highlight the importance of considering type and spatial arrangement of different habitat patches for habitat planning operations on managed forest landscapes.
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