Data from: Benefit or ecological trap? Monitoring the effects of small clear-cuts on capercaillie Tetrao urogallus and its mammalian predators

The shift to “close to nature forestry” as the dominating forestry regime
in Western-European forests has resulted in increasing timber volume and
denser forests with negative effects on photophilic species. Hence, there
is an increasing focus on active habitat management measures to support
these species. To guarantee that the measures prove beneficial to the
target species, it is essential to evaluate both their benefits as well as
possible negative effects. However, while species’ population trends are
often well-studied, rigorous monitoring schemes for management
interventions are often lacking. Here we applied a
before-after-control-intervention (BACI) study design over multiple years
to study the effects of actively creating small clear-cuts of up to 1
hectare on the occurrence of western capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) and
its mammalian predators. While habitat management measures had immediate
positive effects on the probability of capercaillie presence that remained
constant during the 5 years after the intervention, predator presence did
not increase in the years after clear-cutting. Assuming that predator
activity density is related to predation risk, this would refute the
hypothesis that the intervention created an ecological trap. Our study
confirms correlative studies indicating that the creation of small
clear-cuts in a closed forest matrix represents an effective measure for
improving capercaillie habitats in Western-European lower mountain
forests, and contributes to a solid basis for science-based, large-scale
management strategies to comply with international species conservation
legislation.