Woodpecker abundance and habitat use in mature balsam fir forests in Newfoundland

Availability of the oldest age-class of balsam fir (Abies balsamea) forest, the major forest type of western Newfoundland, is declining through loggin g, insect effects, and management for a 60-year harvest rotation. Loss of o ld-growth balsam fir forests may limit the availability of woodpecker habit at if nesting trees and feeding substrates are most abundant in these later successional stages. We assessed abundance of blackbacked woodpeckers (Pic oides arcticus), downy woodpeckers (P. pubescens), and hairy woodpeckers (P . villosus) in 10 stands in each of 3 forest age classes (40-59, 60-79, and >80 yr) of balsam fir in western Newfoundland. For each stand, we quantifi ed 10 habitat variables that may have influenced habitat use by woodpeckers . Blackbacked woodpeckers were almost exclusively found in >80-year-old for ests. Density of black-backed wood peckers was significantly related to num ber of large snags, but negatively to the total number of dead stems. Downy woodpeckers were common and similarly distributed among the 3 forest age c lasses, and hairy woodpeckers were uncommon and only observed in the 40- an d 60-year age classes. Downy and hairy woodpeckers were significantly assoc iated with the number of white birch snags in the stands, a resource that d eclined with forest age. A reduction in the amount of forest in the oldest age class is probably reducing the population of black-backed woodpeckers i n western Newfoundland. We recommend a series of fixed-width transects, cou pled with point counts using call broadcasts, as an effective means of surv eying woodpeckers. Forest managers must maintain large areas of old forests , temporally and spatially, to maintain black-backed woodpeckers in Newfoun dland.