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Context <p>Mixedwood forests are typically defined using coarse measures of stand composition and do not account for spatial configuration or scale. Such definitions may oversimplify how birds perceive habitat, potentially biasing past attempts to identify mixedwood habitat associations.</p> Objectives <p>(1) Quantify how continuous gradients in tree species composition, spatial configuration, and forest age influence species’ abundance; (2) Identify the spatial extent and grain at which these relationships are strongest.</p> Methods <p>We analyzed ~ 9200 point counts across the forested region of Alberta, Canada. We used a multi-scale design to assess the influence of forest composition, configuration, and age within 150, 500, and 1000&#xa0;m extents at 5&#xa0;m and 30&#xa0;m grains on species’ relative abundance.</p> Results <p>Spatial configuration was the strongest predictor for all three species. Black-throated green warbler and bay-breasted warbler responded most strongly to fine-grain, local (150&#xa0;m) configuration, with abundance peaking in intimately–mixed stands. Tennessee warbler responded most to configuration at the broadest extent (1000&#xa0;m), also favouring intimate mixtures. The proportion of conifer and forest age consistently emerged as the second and third most important predictors, respectively. Predicted abundance on synthetic landscapes showed consistently higher abundance (∼ 4–10 times higher) in intimate versus segregated mixedwoods.</p> Conclusions <p>Species-specific and spatially-explicit mixedwood definitions that include spatial configuration better capture bird habitat use than composition alone. Preserving or restoring intimate mixtures of coniferous and deciduous species at fine spatial scales may be particularly beneficial for our focal species.</p>

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Is it a mixedwood? Spatially-explicit responses to gradients in forest structure and composition in three boreal bird species

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月10日

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  • Leonard Patterson,
  • Brendan Casey,
  • Erin Bayne

摘要

Context

Mixedwood forests are typically defined using coarse measures of stand composition and do not account for spatial configuration or scale. Such definitions may oversimplify how birds perceive habitat, potentially biasing past attempts to identify mixedwood habitat associations.

Objectives

(1) Quantify how continuous gradients in tree species composition, spatial configuration, and forest age influence species’ abundance; (2) Identify the spatial extent and grain at which these relationships are strongest.

Methods

We analyzed ~ 9200 point counts across the forested region of Alberta, Canada. We used a multi-scale design to assess the influence of forest composition, configuration, and age within 150, 500, and 1000 m extents at 5 m and 30 m grains on species’ relative abundance.

Results

Spatial configuration was the strongest predictor for all three species. Black-throated green warbler and bay-breasted warbler responded most strongly to fine-grain, local (150 m) configuration, with abundance peaking in intimately–mixed stands. Tennessee warbler responded most to configuration at the broadest extent (1000 m), also favouring intimate mixtures. The proportion of conifer and forest age consistently emerged as the second and third most important predictors, respectively. Predicted abundance on synthetic landscapes showed consistently higher abundance (∼ 4–10 times higher) in intimate versus segregated mixedwoods.

Conclusions

Species-specific and spatially-explicit mixedwood definitions that include spatial configuration better capture bird habitat use than composition alone. Preserving or restoring intimate mixtures of coniferous and deciduous species at fine spatial scales may be particularly beneficial for our focal species.