Ma. Rumble et Je. Gobeille, BIRD COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS TO SUCCESSION IN GREEN ASH (FRAXINUS-PENNSYLVANICA) WOODLANDS, The American midland naturalist, 140(2), 1998, pp. 372-381
We studied the relationship between breeding birds and seral stages of
green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) woodlands in central South Dakota
between 1990 and 1992. Stands of early seral green ash undergoing prim
ary succession had few small trees with western snowberry (Symphoricap
os occidentalis) in the understory. Some early seral green ash stands
resulted from retrogression and had large trees with grass understory.
Late seral green ash stands were represented by greater overstory cov
er consisting of green ash and chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) shrubs
and small trees in the understory. Sixty-five of 81 bird species that
were observed in these woodlands required woodland vegetation as part
of their habitat. Tree- and shrub-nesting birds were the most common a
nd were associated with late seral stages. Ground-nesting birds had mi
xed relationships between early and late seral stages. Cavity-nesting
birds used snags and dead tr ce branches which occurred in all seral s
tages. Correlations of birds with vegetation measurements suggested ha
bitat features birds may have selected for in these woodlands.