ZLV Online

Abstrakt

Presented study evaluates the effect of regeneration felling on the nest-site occupancy of the Northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis L.) at seven sites in the Chřiby Hills of southeastern Moravia (Czech Republic) between 2000 and 2018. The study used GIS to monitor a series of 1-km circles (an area of 78.5 ha) around nesting trees, measuring the size of regeneration patches and their distances from nests. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of nearby clearcutting on nest-site occupancy. The results show that the goshawk’s nesting patterns were mainly affected by gradually developed regeneration patches, which together began to turn into large clearcut areas. The key factor was the distance of these regeneration patches from the nest – distances less than 80 m prevented the goshawk from nesting under the given conditions. However, depending on the size of the regeneration patch, even a distance of 120 m prevented nesting. Such results indicate that regeneration management in the form of small and irregularly placed clearcut patches would be less disruptive for the goshawk’s nesting habits than standard clearcutting management with successive adjacent clearings (up to 1 ha) forming an ever larger area.