Spatio-temporal effects of logging and fire on tall, wet temperate eucalypt forest birds

Forests globally are subject to multiple disturbances such as logging and fire that create complex temporal variation in spatial patterns of forest cover and stand age. However, investigations that quantify temporal changes in biodiversity in response to multiple forms of disturbance in space and time are relatively uncommon. Over a 10-year period, we investigated the response of bird species to spatio-temporal changes in cover associated with logging and wildfire in the Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) forests of south-eastern Australia. Specifically, we examined how bird occurrence changed with shifts in the proportion of area burnt or logged in a 4.5km radius surrounding each of 87 field survey sites. Overall species richness was greatest in older forest patches. Bird species richness declined as the amount of fire around each site increased. At the individual species level, most species were more likely to be found in old growth than younger forest. Twenty-five of 36 bird species w...