The edge effect on bird community development after clear cutting in adjacent old forest

This study analyses the edge effect after clear-cutting in adjacent old forest. The total abundance of bird community significantly differed in 1-3, 4-9 and 10-20-year-old edges, increasing in the first 10-m-wide zone. Fresh edges represented a 50-m-wide zone, medium-aged edges a 90-m-wide zone and old edges a 120-m-wide zone from clear-cut areas. In the analysis, the edge contact zone, the main edge zone, the intermediate zone and the forest interior zone were determined. In most cases abundant species in the edge contact zone required 2 habitats: a clear-cut area and an old growth forest. The main edge zone revealed differences from forest areas further from the edge on two levels: (1) community level (absence of interior species); (2) single species level (changes in abundance). The intermediate zone revealed two main differences from the forest interior: (1) at the community level the species composition did not differ, and (2) at the single species level there were changes in abundance. Forest interior was not influenced by edgesVytauto Didžiojo universitetasŽemės ūkio akademij