Often, the term “clearcut” is viewed as a 4-lettered word when it comes to forest or wildlife management. But, can clearcuts provide vital resources for songbirds – including those species typically associated with mature closed canopy forests? Join us for our conversation with Dr. Patrick Ruhl as we explore his research into songbird use of clearcuts in Indiana.

Steve Hagenbuch - https://vt.audubon.org/contact/steve-hagenbuch

Audubon Vermont - https://vt.audubon.org/

Resources mentioned in episode:

Foresters for the Birds: Vermont - https://vt.audubon.org/conservation/foresters-birds

Foresters for the Birds Demonstration Sites - https://vt.audubon.org/conservation/forestry-birds-demonstration-sites

Foresters for the Birds: Birder’s Dozen - https://vt.audubon.org/sites/default/files/static_pages/attachments/birdersdozen.pdf

Forest Bird Habitat Assessment - https://vt.audubon.org/sites/default/files/assessment-guide.pdf

Birds with Silviculture in Mind - https://vt.audubon.org/sites/default/files/bird-guide.pdf

Silviculture with Birds in Mind - https://vt.audubon.org/sites/default/files/silviculture-options_0.pdf

Bird Friendly Maple Project - https://vt.audubon.org/conservation/working-lands/landing/bird-friendly-maple-project

Often, the term “clearcut” is viewed as a 4-lettered word when it comes to forest or wildlife management. But, can clearcuts provide vital resources for songbirds – including those species typically associated with mature closed canopy forests? Join us for our conversation with Dr. Patrick Ruhl as we explore his research into songbird use of clearcuts in Indiana.

Dr. Patrick Ruhl - https://ruhlresearch.wixsite.com/patrickjruhl

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=UEACzAEAAAAJ&hl=en

Resources mentioned in episode:

Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment - https://heeforeststudy.org/

Confirmation of Successful Chestnut-sided Warbler Breeding in South-Central Indiana - https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/ias/article/download/23245/22567/37006

Ecological factors explain habitat associations of mature-forest songbirds in regenerating forest clearcuts - https://doi.org/10.1676/1559-4491-132.1.145

Characterization of Worm-eating Warbler (Helmitheros vermivorum) breeding habitat at the landscape level and nest scale - https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/1677/

Roost preference, postfledging habitat use, and breeding phenology of adult female Worm-eating Warblers (Helmitheros vermivorum) on the breeding grounds - https://doi.org/10.1676/16-222.1

Using stable isotopes of plasma, red blood cells, feces, and feathers to assess mature-forest bird diet during the post-fledging period - https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/abs/10.1139/cjz-2019-0109

View from a clearcut

Relationship between Scarlet Tanagers and Ripe Blackberries

What distinguishes a forest, woodland, and savanna? How does wildlife and plant diversity differ between them? How do we restore woodlands and savannas? Join Jarred as he talks with Dr. Andy Vander Yacht about his research into restoring oak woodlands and savannas and the wildlife that thrive within in.

In part 2, we discuss how birds and bats responded to restoration treatments (thinning and fire), and how Andy’s research can inform oak woodland restoration on public and private land.

Give us some feedback or potential topics you would like to here by filling out our listener survey:

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Research & Resources discussed in the episode

Dr. Andy Vander Yacht - https://www.esf.edu/faculty/vander_yacht/index.php

Ecology and Management of Oak Woodlands and Savannahs - https://utia.tennessee.edu/publications/wp-content/uploads/sites/269/2023/10/PB1812.pdf

Bat response to prescribed fire and overstory thinning in hardwood forest on the Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378112715005435

Avian occupancy response to oak woodland and savanna restoration - https://wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jwmg.21097