Date of Award
5-6-1998
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Integrated Environmental Sciences
First Advisor
C. Michael Stinson, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Mrs. Thelma Dalmas, M.S.
Third Advisor
P. King
Abstract
Breeding bird populations on three shelterwood cut oak stands in Buckingham County, Virginia were studied using Breeding Bird Census (BBC) techniques. The stands were cut partly or entirely during the year prior to the 1997 breeding season, when the BBCs were conducted. The plots were established as part of a study of oak regeneration following controlled bums in the Virginia piedmont. Canopy cover on the plots averaged 66.8% after the cuts and total basal area averaged 41915 cm2/acre. At least 23 species of birds had territories partly or entirely on at least one of the plots, and at least nine species bred on all three plots. Of these nine, all but one were birds characteristic of forest habitats. This supports the.idea that forest species will continue to breed on shelterwood cuts similar to those studied, at least for the first year after cuts are made, though perhaps at lower densities than in uncut hardwood forests. Birds of open habitats were not very common in the BBC plots studied.
Recommended Citation
McDonald, Kim Marie, "BREEDING BIRD UTILIZATION OF SHELTERWOOD-CUT OAK STANDS IN BUCKINGHAM COUNTY, VIRGINIA" (1998). Theses & Honors Papers. 218.
https://digitalcommons.longwood.edu/etd/218
