Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) habitat characteristics in north-boreal Finland

• Published in: Silva Fennica
• Main Authors: Miettinen, Janne, Helle, Pekka, Nikula, Ari, Niemelä, Pekka
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Finnish Society of Forest Science 2010
• Subjects: Forestry; SD1-669.5; Northern Finland
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.151; https://doaj.org/article/2d716f90f0404a3ab624da7ded903f7e

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 (1998â2004) 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 (17â40 cm) in comparison to middle-sized diameters (10â16 cm) in heath forests, but not in peatland forests. Relatively young managed forests (age 30â40 years or more) can form suitable capercaillie habitats in north-boreal forests. However, this suitability is not necessarily permanent. Understorey management, longer rotations and multicohort forest management are suitable tools for capercaillie habitat management, because they can increase the available cover close to the ground, canopy cover, overall forest cover at the landscape scale and bilberry cover.