Snags, then, serve as Brunswick have found that snags commonly….pdfVIP

SFMN Research Note Series No. 13 Deadwood Habitat in Canadian Boreal Forests by Kristin Kopra James Fyles Highlights recognition that the removal of all deadwood • Snags and downed deadwood serve following harvesting can be extremely harmful as critical habitat for many forest to the forest ecosystem. Still, questions persist wildlife species. regarding the functional and structural importance • The lowest amounts of deadwood are of deadwood. For an overview of the various functions found in forest ages that coincide with deadwood plays, please refer to the SFMN Research rotation age. If rotation lengths and/or Note entitled Deadwood in Canadian Boreal Forests. This harvesting methods are not adjusted research note focuses on the critical role deadwood to accommodate for this, harvesting plays as habitat for animal and plant species. will result in long-term loss of deadwood and, thus, critical wildlife Snags as habitat habitat. • Future research should focus Birds on determining abundance and Snags, or standing dead trees, provide important importance of deadwood for wildlife foraging and nesting habitat for many species of birds. habitat in naturally disturbed forests. Several species of birds, including woodpeckers, act as Examples