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D'>It=E2=80=99s a very lon This is a multipart message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0039_01D2C7E0.0BC02830 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hi Donna and all, Thank you, Donna, for posting the url of the global forest watch site. = I=E2=80=99ve been looking for a tool to try to measure the clearcutting = that takes place after the construction of wind farms in Nova Scotia. = While it is claimed that wind energy has a small environmental foot = print, this notion does not account for the extreme clearcutting that = often takes place in and around wind farms after the pre-and-post = construction studies have been completed. Wind farms require = super-highway-like roads to traverse a forest to transport the large = cranes for construction, maintenance, and eventual de-commissioning of = wind farms. These forest highways allow pulp trucks to travel deep into = the forest which I suspect greatly decreases the labour cost for = removing timber while at the same time increasing the speed and extent = of forest harvest and extraction. =20 Concerning the displacement of wildlife from clearcuts, I would like to = add a couple of points. As studies have shown, different species of = birds benefit from the different stages of forest succession. While = clearcutting might be a disaster for Ovenbirds, Black-throated Green = Warblers, and Red-eyed Vireos in mature forests, it can become a bonanza = for White-throated Sparrows, Chestnut-sided Warblers, and Common = Yellowthroats in an early succession forest. The problem now, as you = point out so well in your posts and articles, is the extent of forest = disturbance. True, there is a great problem for forest refugees that = cannot find a home elsewhere. But the wildlife that still have a home = may be equally threatened by the lack of forest connectivity. No animal = is an island anymore than no person is an island. I hope that we can = come to a better understanding of the importance of forest connectivity = in sustaining wildlife communities and how our current forest practices = maybe impacting this connectivity. =20 John=20 =20 From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca = [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of Donna Crossland Sent: May-07-17 07:54 To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca Subject: RE: [NatureNS] owl decline linked to forest decline =20 It=E2=80=99s a very long census night, when no owls are detected. =20 A tool that could be used to compare owl habitat from year to year is = Global Forest Watch. Global Forest Watch maps tell the story of forest = losses from 2001-2014. This database is about to be updated to include = years 2015 and 2016. We=E2=80=99re likely going to see quite a stark = change in NS. We won=E2=80=99t have to wonder why we detect fewer owls. =20 Link below. Takes a while to load. You can click on Forest cover = gain/loss. (Forest cover gain mainly shows areas where trees are = growing back after clearcutting.) It is very detailed if one = =E2=80=9Czooms in=E2=80=9D to a particular owl survey area. =20 http://www.globalforestwatch.org/map/8/44.88/-63.20/ALL/grayscale/loss,fo= restgain?tab=3Danalysis-tab = <http://www.globalforestwatch.org/map/8/44.88/-63.20/ALL/grayscale/loss,f= orestgain?tab=3Danalysis-tab&begin=3D2001-01-01&end=3D2016-01-01&threshol= d=3D30&dont_analyze=3Dtrue> = &begin=3D2001-01-01&end=3D2016-01-01&threshold=3D30&dont_analyze=3Dtrue =20 I am guessing that Bird Studies Canada owl census data is available to = anyone from past years. It would make a good project to analyse owl = populations based on forest cover. =20 =20 Dr Bondrup-Neilson recently pointed out a long-standing false theory = that when habitat is destroyed the displaced wildlife simply move = =E2=80=9Csomewhere else=E2=80=9D. This was likely never true, as = habitat niches tend to be already filled (even back in the days when we = had much more forest). The displaced species has to compete with = individuals of the same species who are already living there and = well-established. The displaced species has to learn where the new food = supply is, a new landscape, etc. Often times, a slow death to displaced = wildlife takes place, as they starve/cannot find required shelter. Even = more upsetting is that Nova Scotia is running out of =E2=80=9Csomewhere = else=E2=80=9D, as forests are being felled night and day, both on Crown = and on private land. =20 On the up side, Bernard Forsythe demonstrated with barred owls that they = can manage very well in remnant forest patches when a suitable cavity is = found (his nest boxes). But imagine if we must mitigate for all the = displaced species out there across the landscape. It=E2=80=99s easier = to maintain forest cover across our landscape than build homes and find = food for moose, goshawks, saw-whets, bay-breasted warblers, etc. = We=E2=80=99re taking too much away. =20 Donna Crossland (I didn=E2=80=99t mean to make this into a solemn Sunday sermon!) =20 =20 =20 From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca = <mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca> = [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of chris kennedy Sent: May-06-17 11:44 PM To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca <mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>=20 Subject: Re: [NatureNS] owl decline linked to forest decline =20 I run my owl route (Route NS#016) through an area north of Upper = Stewiacke on the Pembroke Road. The cutting around that area has been = intense, I implore anyone to look at the google earth imagery. No owls, = I typically get one barred owl, it's never been a very populated route = in the 4 years I've run it.=20 =20 Chris Kennedy in Dartmouth =20 On Sat, May 6, 2017 at 8:47 PM, Fred Schueler <bckcdb@istar.ca = <mailto:bckcdb@istar.ca> > wrote: On 5/6/2017 5:52 PM, Donna Crossland wrote: It would seem that if we obtain consistently low numbers of barred owls in the clearcut landscapes compared to intact landscapes, then the owl census data may support what we pretty much already deduce using some common sense: barred owls and other owl species are forest dwellers