PREDATION RATES ON ARTIFICIAL NESTS IN AN INDUSTRIAL FOREST LANDSCAPE

We examined patterns of predation among ground and shrub nests in exte nsive forests, forest fragments, regenerating clearcuts, and young pla ntations in a landscape dominated by industrial forest management in n orth-central Maine, USA. The predation rate in extensive forests (65%) was greater (P = 0.0001) than that in forest fragments (47%). This re sult contrasts with previous studies from agricultural and developed l andscapes and may be due to surrounding land use types and their assoc iated predator communities. In forest fragments, shrub nests within 75 m of the edge were more likely to be depredated than those farther th an 75 m (P = 0.043). Predation in clearcuts (23%) was less than that i n forest fragments (P = 0.0001) or plantations (41%) (P = 0.0015) and decreased with increasing distance from the edge (P = 0.001) and incre asing Vegetation cover at the nest site (P = 0.006). In contrast, pred ation rates in plantations increased with increasing vegetation densit y (P = 0.0174) and distance to edge (P = 0.0235). Results from our stu dy suggest that findings documented in other, more developed, landscap es cannot readily be applied to extensive managed forests, and that co nversion of naturally regenerating stands to plantations may lower the nesting success of birds that breed in early successional forests.