We used 37 years of North American Breeding Bird Surveys to test for effects of periodical cicada (Magicicada spp.) emergences on the abundance and spatial synchrony of 24 species of avian predators in hardwood forests of the eastern United States. Fifteen (63%) of the bird species exhibited numerical changes in abundance apparently associated with emergences of the local periodical cicada brood, and intraspecific spatial synchrony of bird abundance was significantly greater between populations sharing the same cicada brood than between populations in the ranges of different broods. Species exhibited at least four partially overlapping temporal patterns. (I) Cuckoos (Coccyzus spp.) occurred in high numbers only during emergence years and subsequently declined in abundance. (2) Red-bellied Woodpeckers (Melanerpes carolinus), Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata), Common Grackles (Quiscalus quiscula), and Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) increased significantly 1-3 years following emergences and then declined. (3) Red-headed Woodpeckers (Melanerpes erythrocephalus), American Crows (Corvus brachyrynchos), Tufted Titmice (Baeolophus bicolor), Gray Catbirds (Dumetella carolinensis), and Brown Thrashers (Toxostoma rufum) were found in significantly low numbers during emergence years, underwent significant numerical increases in the following year, and then stabilized. (4) Wood Thrushes (Hylocichla mustelina), Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos), Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), and House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) exhibited significantly deviant population numbers 1-2 years prior to emergences, below the long-term mean in the first two species and above the long-term mean in the latter two. These results suggest that the pulses of resources available at 13- or 17-year intervals when periodical cicadas emerge have significant demographic effects on key avian predators, mostly during or immediately after emergences, but in some cases apparently years following emergence events.

/pdf/effects-of-periodical-cicada-emergences-on-abundance-and-1i94g9o0fp.pdf

Effects of periodical cicada emergences on abundance and synchrony of avian populations - eScholarship

Context Populations of many mammalian species are reduced as a result of clearcutting, despite the concurrent objectives of wood production and conservation of mammal diversity on cutover forest land. To help ameliorate this decline, green-tree retention (GTR) leaves large live trees after harvest to provide mature forest habitat and increase structural diversity of the regenerating stand. Aims To test the hypotheses (H) that, at 20 years after harvest, (H1) abundance, reproduction and survival of the southern red-backed vole (Myodes gapperi), as well as (H2) abundance and species diversity of the forest-floor small mammal community, would increase with the basal area (BA) and density of residual trees after harvest. Methods Small mammals were live-trapped in 2015–16 in replicated clearcut, dispersed retention, aggregated retention, patch cut and uncut forest sites in mixed forests of Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl. var. latifolia) in southern British Columbia, Canada. Key results Mean BA and density of overstory coniferous trees were significantly different at 20 years post-harvest, being higher on patch cut and uncut forest sites than on the clearcut and GTR sites. M. gapperi populations were significantly greater in aggregated retention and uncut forest sites than in the other sites, but demographic parameters were similar among sites, and therefore H1 was partly supported. Mean total abundance of small mammals differed significantly among sites, with the highest overall numbers occurring in the aggregated retention (16.2), clearcut (13.6) and uncut forest sites (11.9). Mean species richness and diversity were highest in the GTR and clearcut sites. Thus, H2 was not supported. Conclusions Recovery of M. gapperi in aggregated retention sites with 10m2 ha–1 BA of residual trees, as a group, occurred at 20 years post-harvest. Implications Aggregated retention of residual trees should help provide some habitat to conserve forest mammals on harvest openings, but successional development up to 20 years post-harvest may be required.

https://bioone.org/journals/Wildlife-Research/volume-44/issue-8/WR17065/Green-tree-retention-and-recovery-of-an-old-forest-specialist/10.1071/WR17065.pdf

Green-tree retention and recovery of an old-forest specialist, the southern red-backed vole (Myodes gapperi), 20 years after harvest

Long-term functionality of woody debris structures for forest-floor small mammals on clearcuts

Animals that feed on forest tree seeds, such as Apodemus mice, increase in number after a mast year. At high latitudes, there is a similar delayed response by Myodes voles to high seed crops of bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), but here the mechanism is hypothesised to be increased forage quality, caused by a trade-off between reproduction and defence in the plants. Both Apodemus mice and Myodes voles eat berries, but only the latter feed on bilberry plants. Hence, only Myodes voles are predicted to respond to bilberry peak years. A second prediction is that the effect should last longer than any possible direct impacts of bilberries, because the plants would not be able to rebuild their defence until the succeeding summer. During a 21-year snap-trapping study of small rodents in Southern Norway, the spring population of bank vole (Myodes glareolus) was positively related to a bilberry seed index of the previous year, indicating increased winter survival, whereas the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) was not affected. Also the succeeding autumn population index of the bank vole was positively related to the bilberry index of the previous year, even when controlling for spring population levels. The wood mouse population responded to mast years of sessile oak (Quercus petraea), whereas seeds of Norway spruce (Picea abies) seemed to have some impact on both species. It is concluded that these rodents are mainly limited from below, but by different mechanisms for the granivorous and the herbivorous species.

/pdf/evidence-for-different-bottom-up-mechanisms-in-wood-mouse-4gouq3ii9m.pdf

Evidence for different bottom-up mechanisms in wood mouse ( Apodemus sylvaticus ) and bank vole ( Myodes glareolus ) population fluctuations in Southern Norway

Home range is shaped by an individual’s interactions with the environment and conspecifics, and both size and placement may vary in response to population fluctuations. The method used to collect l...

Influence of field technique, density, and sex on home range and overlap of the southern red-backed vole (Myodes gapperi)

Our goals were to characterize multiannual population changes of the southern red-backed vole (Myodes gapperi) to determine potential cycling behavior, and to specify the possible causes of these changes. We analyzed a detailed, 21-year record of changes in abundance of M. gapperi in late successional coniferous forest in southern British Columbia, Canada, from 1995 to 2015. We evaluated 3 hypotheses (H), namely that population changes are related to: (H1) changes in food supply from cone crops of coniferous trees; (H2) changes in forest habitat associated with beetle-killed lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) trees; and (H3) territorial reorganization leading to breeding season declines in abundance. There were 3 cyclic population fluctuations (6- to 7-year periodicity) where red-backed voles reached mean fall numbers of 19–25, 15–16, and 26–27 per ha, respectively; in contrast, only 2–5 voles per ha occurred during population lows. Breeding season declines in abundance occurred in 17 of 21 years, with particularly precipitous drops ranging from 49% to 69% loss of voles. M. gapperi had more successful pregnancies, juvenile recruits, and adult recruits in the high than in the low population years. Mean index of early juvenile survival was 22% higher in low than high population years. Mean summer survival (58%) was consistently lower than that in winter (83%). Population increases were positively related to cone crops of 3 coniferous tree species. Thus, H1 was partially supported in 3 of 4 seedfall events. Positive changes in forest habitat, resulting from seed rain as a food supply and fallen debris from beetle-killed pine trees as cover, may have supported high numbers of voles in 2011–2012 (H2). A spring reorganization event limited the number of breeding animals by density-dependent inhibition of maturation and survival of juvenile voles, and led to breeding season declines (H3). Rigorous field experiments are needed to test these hypotheses and their interactions as mechanisms driving population change.

Mechanisms of population limitation in the southern red-backed vole in conifer forests of western North America: insights from a long-term study

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Mechanisms of population limitation in the southern red-backed vole in conifer forests of western North America: insights from a long-term study