L’avifaune du Mont Ventoux, essai de synthèse biogéographique et écologique

Bird censuses were made at 340 sites, and 83 % of the species known to nest in the Mont Ventoux were recorded at least once. Despite a considerable Central European and montane element, the avifauna is more similar to that of the Provence than to that of the Prealps. Reafforestation has led to the restoration of a European woodland fauna at the expense of Mediterranean species which had established themselves with the destruction of the primary forests. The dominant plant species, vegetation structure, canopy height and altitude were the features which bore most information about the habitat selection of a species. Many general woodland species are present in the primary forest and in those reafforested areas where there has been considerable disturbance ; on the other hand, several good indicator species of environmental conditions in the different vegetation series were also found. The bird life in reafforested areas scarcely differs from that in the remaining areas of primary forest ; and rich, balanced bird communities have appeared in these new forests (particularly those with Cedrus atlantica).