2026/04/03 by Chiara Bettega, Alma de Angelis, Andrea Pilastro +3 · 1 voice
Engineering · Environmental Science · #Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies #Avian ecology and behavior #Breeding pair #Distance sampling #Habitat #Occupancy #Tree Root and Stability Studies
paper · doi:10.1080/00063657.2026.2659163
published in Bird Study 73(2), 97-104 (Taylor & Francis)
openalex publication_date 2026/04/03 · openalex created_date 2026/05/08 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/20
Capsule: The landscape mosaic and increased heterogeneity resulting from a severe forest disturbance (windstorm followed by bark beetle outbreak) in Northern Italy increased suitable habitat for the European Nightjar, primarily due to the newly established shrub cover.Aims: In 2024, we investigated the occupancy pattern of the European Nightjar in a forest area in Trentino (Italy) damaged by the Vaia windstorm in 2018 and by a subsequent bark beetle infestation (mainly the Eight-toothed Spruce Bark Beetle Ips typographus).Methods: We conducted point count surveys at 52 points across the 200 ha study area, encompassing a range of different types of environments, including intact forest, pre-existing clearings and windthrows caused by the Vaia storm.Results: We found a positive effect of shrub coverage on European Nightjar occupancy probability, while other storm-related features, e.g. roots and bare ground, had a positive (yet weak) influence. European Nightjars seemed to benefit from the mosaic of landscape features and increased environmental heterogeneity that have emerged in this post-windstorm forest area, which was previously dominated by closed-canopy conifer trees.Conclusions: Future management of the study area and similar sites should consider the ecological opportunities arising from disturbance, and the importance of preserving part of the new clearings with dead wood legacies, in order to build a more resilient and biodiverse forest ecosystem.