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6 December 2022 Do Large Herbivores Have an Important Role in Initiating Tree Cavities Used by Hole-Nesting Birds in European Forests?
Richard K. Broughton, Oliwia Karpińska, Katarzyna Kamionka-Kanclerska, Marta Maziarz
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Tree cavities are an essential resource for cavity-dwelling mammals, birds, invertebrates and fungi, and so are important for maintaining forest biodiversity. In North American forests, woodpeckers (Picidae) play a keystone role in cavity creation by excavating holes. However, in European forests many hole-nesting songbirds rely on non-excavated cavities that are formed by fungal decay and compartmentalization after tree damage. Several factors are recognised in initiating non-excavated cavities that are used by hole-nesting birds, including loss of a tree branch or stem breakage, but this topic is poorly studied. Here, we propose that bark stripping by large herbivores (e.g. Red Deer Cervus elaphus and European Bison Bison bonasus) could be another important, and previously overlooked, mechanism for initiating tree cavities that are used by hole-nesting birds. We suggest that, after the initial damage from herbivore bark-stripping, fungal decay can create specific elongated, slit-like cavities, which are particularly important as nest sites for some common forest songbirds. We outline this idea using original observations and evidence from the literature, primarily from the primeval forest in Poland's Białowieża National Park. We also use studies from elsewhere in Europe to show a generally low usage of slit cavities by birds where large herbivores are scarce or absent. We suggest that restoring such animals in European forests could help to restore the abundance and diversity of the tree cavity resource for hole-dwelling species. We encourage future research to investigate this proposal of large herbivores being important agents of tree cavity formation that could enhance biodiversity.

Richard K. Broughton, Oliwia Karpińska, Katarzyna Kamionka-Kanclerska, and Marta Maziarz "Do Large Herbivores Have an Important Role in Initiating Tree Cavities Used by Hole-Nesting Birds in European Forests?," Acta Ornithologica 57(1), 107-121, (6 December 2022). https://doi.org/10.3161/00016454AO2022.57.1.007
Received: 1 March 2022; Accepted: 1 July 2022; Published: 6 December 2022
KEYWORDS
Białowieża Forest
Biodiversity conservation
cavity-nesting birds
conservation of birds and forests
dead wood
forest bird community
reintroduction
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