LE3 .A278 2022

2022

Taylor, Phil
Brazner, John

Acadia University

Master of Science

Masters

Biology

Biology

I aimed to shed light on the conservation value of Nova Scotian forests by studying bird communities and species of conservation concern within these ecosystems. The first chapter of the thesis compares the conservation value of three different old forest habitat types (floodplain swamps, treed swamps, and upland). The second chapter focuses on three different upland forest maturity classes (Maturity 1: 40-80 years old; Maturity 2: 80-125 years old; and Old: > 125 years old). My objective was to determine whether conservation value differed among these forest classifications based on their bird communities. Chapter 1 suggested that old forested wetlands had a higher conservation value than did old upland forests. In Chapter 2, I found no differences between the conservation value of upland forests of different maturity classes. Overall, this study suggests that bird communities are influenced by the habitat structure rather than the maturity of the breeding sites.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3734