Broad-scale disturbances are reshaping forests of western North America, with uncertain consequences for wildlife. In the Canadian Rockies, mountain pine beetle (MPB; Dendroctonus ponderosae ) outbreaks have killed extensive areas of mature lodgepole pine, and subsequent secondary disturbances have included salvage logging and wildfire. It remains unclear how avian communities—widely used indicators of ecosystem change— are responding to novel combinations of disturbance type, severity, extent, and recovery trajectories. We examined bird communities across post-MPB-attacked forests in two regions that experienced temporally distinct outbreaks: a more recent outbreak in Jasper National Park (JNP) and an earlier, historic outbreak in the Southern Rockies of Alberta, Canada. Using Autonomous Recording Unit (ARU) data collected in 2023 and 2024, we compared bird communities across three post-MPB-attack disturbance types: burned, harvested, and left-standing (n = 293). In JNP, bird communities differed most clearly by disturbance type, whereas in the Southern Rockies, communities converged over time. Indicator species analyses identified several old growth forest species were associated with standing sites, early-successional species were typically found in burned areas, and no species were strong indicators of harvested forests. Our findings highlight trade-offs between passive and active management: burned and harvested sites enhance short-term richness, but standing forests maintain mature-forest species. Promoting spatial and temporal heterogeneity in post-MPB landscapes—by applying a patchwork of different management strategies—may help sustain biodiversity and reduce future outbreak consequences for wildlife. By revealing how birds respond to varying post-MPB management strategies, our findings support forest management decisions aimed at conserving wildlife while addressing disturbance legacies. • Bird communities vary across beetle-killed standing, harvested, and burned forests • Disturbance type structures early bird communities; convergence increases over time • Beetle-killed patches retain old-growth forest birds despite canopy mortality • Implications: Mixed strategies support short-term richness and long-term stability
Swerdfager et al. (Mon,) studied this question.