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Eastern Spruce-Hardwood Forest
(Area - 35,310,000 ha)
Description - The Eastern Spruce-Hardwood Forest is the
largest physiographic area in the Northeast region. Landforms within the unit range from
low coastal plains (including offshore islands) in Maine and the Maritime provinces to
high Appalachian peaks (4,000-6,000 ft.) in the White Mountains and Green Mountains.
Virtually the entire planning unit is dominated by either sugar maple-beech-birch forest,
red spruce-balsam fir forest, or a combination of the two in various proportions. Other
important vegetation types include alpine stunted spruce-fir communities, coastal
saltmarsh and estuaries, and numerous peatlands, bogs, and other wetlands. Human
populations are relatively sparse throughout the physiographic area and are largely
confined to coastal regions, and major river valleys. A few areas, such as Prince Edward
Island, the Connecticut and St. John River valleys, and extreme northeastern Maine remain
as pockets of active agricultural production. The most pervasive human influence on the
natural landscape has been through commercial timber harvest and production. The
cumulative effects of timber harvesting in the region has been a change in the age
structure of the forest and a gradual shift towards greater dominance by northern
hardwoods. A large proportion of this commercial forestry in the U.S. takes place on
private lands; for example, nearly half of the forested land in Maine is owned by the
forest industry. In Canada, private companies hold long-term leases, but lands remain in
public (crown) ownership. In general, over a century of timber harvesting in this region
has not resulted in the significant loss of species or populations of forest birds.
Avifaunal changes have mostly been in the form of changes in local composition and
relative abundances, as the mix of successional stages and conifer vs. hardwood forests
shifted across the landscape.
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Conservation recommendations and needs - Clearly, any successful landbird conservation plan in this region must reconcile the needs of long-term, sustainable timber production and the habitat needs of high-priority bird species. Loss of the economic sustainability of commercial forestry could result in conversion of forest habitats to urban development or other less bird-friendly landscapes. The primary goal of this bird conservation plan is to ensure the long-term maintenance of all important forest types in the future landscape mosaic. This must be achieved through careful forest planning on both private and public lands. Commitments by several large timber companies would ensure that conservation objectives are met over vast areas. In addition, protection and monitoring of coastal saltmarshes and boreal mountaintop habitats are high priorities. Specific conservation recommendations for this physiographic area include:
• apply GIS-based spatial monitoring protocol to survey and monitor high-elevation habitats for Bicknell’s Thrush;
• maintain a “shifting mosaic” of forest-age structures, including adequate amounts of mid-successional as well as late-successional forest (both coniferous and northern hardwood);
• ensure that a minimum of 10%-20% of sub-regional planning units (commercial licenses, townships, etc.) involved in timber production be maintained as mature or overmature coniferous forest;
• identify and designate Bird Conservation Areas (BCA), within which long-term sustainability of priority bird populations is a primary management objective;
• determine specific habitat needs (and causes of declines) for Canada Warbler; why, for example, is Canada Warbler declining while Black-throated Blue Warbler is stable, if both require shrubby understory of mature forest?
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