The Habitat-Trees experiment: using exotic tree species as new microhabitats for the native fauna

doi:10.3832/ifor1281-007

The Habitat-Trees experiment: using exotic tree species as new microhabitats for the native fauna

Livia Zapponi⁽¹⁾, Emma Minari⁽¹⁾, Luca Longo⁽³⁾, Ilaria Toni⁽¹⁾, Franco Mason⁽⁴⁾, Alessandro Campanaro⁽¹⁾

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 8, Issue 4, Pages 464-470 (2014)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor1281-007
Published: Oct 22, 2014 - Copyright © 2014 SISEF

Research Articles

PDF Version

Full Text

Citation

Geo-mapping

The cavities that develop in veteran trees represent a key microhabitat for forest biodiversity and especially for secondary cavity nesters that rely on this resource for shelter. Since the availability of deadwood, veteran and hollow trees is threatened by forest management, we explored the possibility of increasing the presence of these scarce resources. To increase the abundance of dead wood-microhabitats, 113 trees of the hybrid planes (Platanus x acerifolia) were converted into new living structures, the Habitat Trees (HT). To investigate the potential of this resource on the native avian fauna, six types of cavities were designed according to the size requirements of the target bird species. The temporal evolution of the cavities and their use by birds were then studied for eight years. The artificial cavities generally did not compromise growth and stability of the trees, and the majority remained alive. These hollows offered better thermal insulation compared to traditional nest-boxes and natural cavities. Their use increased during the first three years, reaching the 80%. In the following years, the use declined (probably because of the increase of rot and displacement of the lids).This highlights the need of management to maintain their suitability through time. Our results suggest a possible cost-effective alternative use of alien tree species, which should be included in management actions to compensate the shortage of hollow trees in managed forests.

Keywords

Birds, Deadwood, Exotic Species, Forest Management, LIFE Project, Saproxylic Organisms

Authors’ address

(1)

Centro Nazionale per lo Studio e Conservazione della Biodiversità Forestale “Bosco Fontana”, str. Mantova 29, I-46045 Marmirolo (MN, Italy)

(2)

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Biologia Agroambientale e Forestale, v. Salaria Km 29.300, I-00015 Monterotondo Scalo (RM, Italy)

(3)

v. XXVIII Marzo 19, I-37133 Verona (Italy)

(4)

Centro Nazionale per lo Studio e la Conservazione della Biodiversità Forestale “Bosco Fontana” di Verona, v. C. Ederle 16/a I-37126 Verona (Italy)

(5)

Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie “Charles Darwin”, Università“La Sapienza”, Roma (Italy)

Corresponding author

Alessandro Campanaro
ale.naro@gmail.com

Citation

Zapponi L, Minari E, Longo L, Toni I, Mason F, Campanaro A (2014). The Habitat-Trees experiment: using exotic tree species as new microhabitats for the native fauna. iForest 8: 464-470. - doi: 10.3832/ifor1281-007

Academic Editor

Massimo Faccoli

Paper history

Received: Mar 06, 2014
Accepted: Jul 06, 2014

First online: Oct 22, 2014
Publication Date: Aug 02, 2015
Publication Time: 3.60 months

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Breakdown by View Type

(Waiting for server response...)

Article Usage

Total Article Views: 44224
(from publication date up to now)

Breakdown by View Type
HTML Page Views: 37158
Abstract Page Views: 2104
PDF Downloads: 3685
Citation/Reference Downloads: 73
XML Downloads: 1204

Web Metrics
Days since publication: 3472
Overall contacts: 44224
Avg. contacts per week: 89.16

Article Citations

Article citations are based on data periodically collected from the Clarivate Web of Science web site
(last update: Feb 2023)

Total number of cites (since 2015): 17
Average cites per year: 1.89

(no Plumx Metrics available for this paper)

Publication Metrics

by Dimensions ^©

Articles citing this article

List of the papers citing this article based on CrossRef Cited-by.

(1)

Aitken KH, Martin K (2007)
The importance of excavators in hole-nesting communities: availability and use of natural tree holes in old mixed forests of western Canada. Journal of Ornithology 148: 425-434.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(2)

Bouget C, Larrieu L, Brin A (2014a)
Key features for saproxylic beetle diversity derived from rapid habitat assessment in temperate forests. Ecological Indicators 36: 656-664.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(3)

Bouget C, Parmain G, Gilg O, Noblecourt T, Nusillard B, Paillet Y, Pernot C, Larrieu L, Gosselin F (2014b)
Does a set-aside conservation strategy help the restoration of old-growth forest attributes and recolonization by saproxylic beetles? Animal Conservation 17 (4): 342-353.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(4)

Cavalli R, Mason F (2003)
Techniques for re-establishment of dead wood for saproxylic fauna conservation. Life Nature Project NAT/IT/99/ 6245 “Bosco della Fontana” (Mantova, Italy). Gianluigi Arcari Editore, Mantova, Italy, pp. 112.
Gscholar

(5)

Charter M, Izhaki I, Leshem Y (2010)
Effects of the risk of competition and predation on large secondary cavity breeders. Journal of Ornithology 151: 791-795.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(6)

Charter M, Leshem Y, Izhaki I (2013)
Asymmetric seasonal nest site competition between great tits and house sparrows. Journal of Ornithology 154: 173-181.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(7)

Cornelius C, Cockle K, Politi N, Berkunsky I, Sandoval L, Ojeda V, Rivera L, Hunter M, Martin K (2008)
Cavity-nesting birds in neotropical forests: cavities as a potentially limiting resource. Ornitologia Neotropical 19: 253-268.
Online | Gscholar

(8)

Dalponte M, Gianelle D, Bruzzone L (2007)
Use of hyperspectral and lidar data for classification of complex forest areas. In: “Canopy analysis and dynamics of a floodplain forest” (Gianelle D, Travaglini D, Mason F, Minari E, Chirici G, Chemini C eds). Cierre Grafica Editore, Verona, Italy, pp. 25-37.
Gscholar

(9)

Dhondt AA (2012)
Interspecific competition in birds. Oxford University Press, New York, USA, pp. 282.
Online | Gscholar

(10)

Garcia-Navas V, Arroyo L, Sanz JJ, Diaz M (2008)
Effect of nestbox type on occupancy and breeding biology of tree sparrows passer montanus in Central Spain. Ibis 150: 356-364.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(11)

Gibbons P, Lindenmayer DB (2002)
Tree hollows and wildlife conservation in Australia. CSIRO, Collingwood, Australia, pp. 211.
Online | Gscholar

(12)

Gotelli NJ, Entsminger GL (2001)
Ecosim: null models software for ecology. Web site.
Online | Gscholar

(13)

Larrieu L, Cabanettes A, Delarue A (2012)
Impact of silviculture on dead wood and on the distribution and frequency of tree microhabitats in montane beech-fir forests of the Pyrenees. European Journal of Forest Research 131: 773-786.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(14)

Levers C, Verkerk PJ, Müller D, Verburg PH, Butsic V, Leitão PJ, Lindner M, Kuemmerle T (2014)
Drivers of forest harvesting intensity patterns in Europe. Forest Ecology and Management 315: 160-172.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(15)

Lindenmayer DB, Welsh A, Donnelly C, Crane M, Michael D, Macgregor C, McBurney L, Montague-Drake R, Gibbons P (2009)
Are nest boxes a viable alternative source of cavities for hollow-dependent animals? Long-term monitoring of nest box occupancy, pest use and attrition. Biological Conservation 142: 33-42.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(16)

Longo L (2001)
Uccelli [Birds]. In: “Vertebrati di un bosco planiziario padano Bosco della Fontana” (Longo L, Nadali A eds). Gianluigi Arcari Editore, Mantova, Italy, pp. 21-63. [in Italian]
Gscholar

(17)

Longo L (2003a)
Habitat trees: instructions for creating and monitoring nest holes. In: “Techniques for reestablishment of dead wood for saproxylic fauna conservation” (Cavalli R, Mason F eds). Life nature project NAT/IT/99/6245 “Bosco della Fontana” (Mantova, Italy). Gianluigi Arcari Editore, Mantova, Italy, pp. 63-68.
Gscholar

(18)

Longo L (2003b)
“Habitat trees” and other actions for birds. In: Proceedings of the International Symposium “Dead wood: a key to biodiversity” (Mason F, Nardi G, Tisato M eds). Mantova (Italy) 29-31 May 2003. Sherwood, Arezzo, Italy, pp. 49-50.
Gscholar

(19)

Loukola OJ, Seppänen JT, Forsman JT (2012)
Intraspecific social information use in the selection of nest site characteristics. Animal Behaviour 83: 629-633.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(20)

Maffezzoli M, Martignoni C (2010)
Report: relazione ornitologica SIC e ZPS “Bosco Fontana”. Indagine conoscitiva di aggiornamento sugli uccelli a fini gestionali [Report on the bird fauna. Study on the birds for management purposes]. In: “Integrazione del Piano di Gestione della Riserva Naturale Statale e Sito Natura 2000 IT 20B0011 Bosco della Fontana” (Hardersen S, Toni I eds). Programma di Sviluppo Rurale 2007-2013 (FEARS), Regione Lombardia, Azione 323 A, Mantova, Italy, pp. 168. [in Italian]
Gscholar

(21)

Manning AD, Gibbons P, Fischer J, Oliver DL , Lindenmayer DB (2013)
Hollow futures? Tree decline, lag effects and hollow-dependent species. Animal Conservation 16: 395-403.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(22)

Martin K, Aitken KEH, Wiebe KL (2004)
Nest sites and nest webs for cavity-nesting communities in interior British Columbia, Canada: nest characteristics and niche partitioning. The condor 106: 5-19.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(23)

Mason F (2004)
Dinamica di una foresta della pianura padana: Bosco della fontana [Dynamic of a forest in the Po floodplain: Bosco Fontana] (2nd edn). Gianluigi Arcari Editore, Mantova, Italy, pp. 224. [in Italian]
Gscholar

(24)

MCPFE (2007)
State of Europe’s forests 2007. The MCPFE report on sustainable forest management in Europe. In: “5th Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe” (MCPFE Liaison Unit Warsaw). UNECE and FAO, Warsaw, Poland, pp. 247.
Gscholar

(25)

Müller J, Jarzabek-Müller A, Bussler H, Gossner M (2013)
Hollow beech trees identified as keystone structures for saproxylic beetles by analyses of functional and phylogenetic diversity. Animal Conservation 17 (2): 154-162.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(26)

Newton I (1994)
The role of nest sites in limiting the numbers of hole-nesting birds: a review. Biological Conservation 70: 265-276.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(27)

Remm J, Lõhmus A, Remm K (2006)
Tree cavities in riverine forests: what determines their occurrence and use by hole-nesting passerines? Forest Ecology and Management 221: 267-277.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(28)

Robles H, Ciudad C, Matthysen E (2011)
Tree-cavity occurrence, cavity occupation and reproductive performance of secondary cavity-nesting birds in oak forests: the role of traditional management practices. Forest Ecology and Management 261: 1428-1435.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(29)

Robles H, Ciudad C, Matthysen E (2012)
Responses to experimental reduction and increase of cavities by a secondary cavity-nesting bird community in cavity-rich pyrenean oak forests. Forest Ecology and Management 277: 46-53.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(30)

Sebek P, Altman J, Platek M, Cizek L (2013)
Is active management the key to the conservation of saproxylic biodiversity? Pollarding promotes the formation of tree hollows. PLoS ONE 8 (3): e60456.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(31)

Speight MCD (1989)
Saproxylic invertebrates and their conservation. Nature and environment series, No. 42. Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France, pp. 80.
Gscholar

(32)

Takeno K (2012)
Stress-induced flowering. In: “Abiotic stess responses in plants. Metabolism, productivity and sustainability” (Ahmad P, Prasad MNV eds). Springer, New York, USA, pp. 331-346.
CrossRef | Gscholar

(33)

Tomé R, Catry P, Bloise C, Korpimaki E (2008)
Breeding density and success, and diet composition of little owls Athene noctua in steppe-like habitats in Portugal. Ornis Fennica 85: 22.
Gscholar

(34)

Travaglini D, Bottalico F, Brundu P, Chirici G, Minari E (2007)
Sampling deadwood within Bosco della Fontana. In: “Canopy analysis and dynamics of a floodplain forest” (Gianelle D, Travaglini D, Mason F, Minari E, Chirici G, Chemini C eds). Cierre Grafica Editore, Verona, Italy, pp. 59-68.
Gscholar

(35)

Wesolowski T, Czeszczewik D, Rowinski P, Walankiewicz W (2002)
Nest soaking in natural holes-a serious cause of breeding failure? Ornis Fennica 79: 132-138.
Online | Gscholar

(36)

Zingg S, Arlettaz R, Schaub M (2010)
Nestbox design influences territory occupancy and reproduction in a declining, secondary cavity-breeding bird. Ardea 98: 67-75.
CrossRef | Gscholar

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry

Contents

Search

Journal Info

Journal Subjects and Fields

For Authors

For Reviewers

For Readers

SISEF Publishing

Search iForest Contents