Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) Habitat

• Main Authors: Silva Fennica, Janne Miettinen, Pekka Helle, Ari Nikula, Pekka Niemelä
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: forestry; forest management; thinnings; landscape composition; Northern Finland
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.615.7670; http://www.metla.fi/silvafennica/full/sf44/sf442235.pdf

This study aimed to identify tools for taking capercaillie habitats into consideration in forest management. This would provide new alternatives for ecologically more sustainable forest management. Capercaillie summer and winter locations, from wildlife monitoring counts (1998–2004) in northern Finland, and reference, non-capercaillie locations were combined with forest planning data, and the area proportions of different landscape classes in an 800-m radius circle surrounding capercaillie and reference locations were compared. Thinning stands (in summer and winter) and spruce mires (in summer) were more abundant in capercaillie habitats than in reference landscapes, whereas e.g. seedling stands, mature stands and waste land areas were less abundant. The relative habitat use was highest in mean tree diameter (DBH) classes from 10.5 to 14.5 cm in summer habitats of adult capercaillie in heath forests, whereas in peatland forests, in brood habitats and in winter habitats it peaked in diameter classes 14.5 to 18.5 cm. The tree layer density was positively associated with the relative habitat use. A trend of lower habitat use was detected in the largest diameters (17–40 cm) in comparison to middle-sized diameters (10–16 cm) in heath forests, but not in peatland forests. Relatively young managed forests (age 30–40 years or more) can form suitable capercaillie