Bird community response to even-aged and uneven-aged forest management in Mediterranean Scots pine forests

Understanding how biodiversity responds to forest management is a key challenge for sustainable forest management. Birds, as a sensitive taxon of habitat quality, provide valuable insights into the ecological consequences of different management types. In this study, we examined how even-aged (EA) and uneven-aged (UEA) management strategies, and their associated management stages influence bird communities in managed Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) forests. We assessed species richness and abundance of forest specialists, generalists, and ecological guilds, and compared the relative explanatory power of management strategy, management stage, and forest structural attributes using data from 207 plots. UEA stands generally favoured forest specialists and forest generalists as well as cavity and understory nesters, and overstory and understory foragers. Bird communities varied among management stages: EA young stands showed the lowest values of forest specialists, cavity nesters and trunk and understory foragers, while UEA capitalized and EA preparatory cutting stages hosted the highest values of forest specialists and favoured cavity and overstory dependent guilds. Overall, management stage models better explained the variation in bird community than management strategy and structural variables models. We highlight that management stage played a decisive role in shaping avian communities. Ultimately, whether under EA or UEA systems, forest management should adopt a multifunctional approach that prioritizes biodiversity-relevant stages, enhances stand heterogeneity, and ensures the long-term conservation of forest biodiversity.