Structural changes in bird communities before and after coppice management practices: a comparison using a diversity/dominance approach

We report data on the effects of coppice management on breeding birds in paired oak woods of central Italy using a Before-After-Control-Impact sampling design, hypothesizing that this practice strongly affect abundance, richness and diversity at community level. Using point count method, we obtained first evidence of a coppice management effect acting as a stressor on the breeding bird assemblage structure. We observed a significant decrease in averaged species richness and abundance in coppiced areas before and after the coppicing practices, differently from the control area. Analogously, regression lines derived by species frequencies in diversity/dominance diagrams showed a different trends when comparing the coppiced areas before and after the cutting, indicating a stress in the latter. This pattern is supported by the H' diversity and evenness values that changed abruptly between years only in the coppiced area. These changes can be related to the significant reduction in tree plant density before and after cutting, especially for those with a diameter between 7.5 and 23 cm.