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POCKETS OF DENSE, MATURE AND OLD FOREST- HABITAT FOR THE NORTHERN GOSHAWK- The natural density of the forest varies by elevation. Low elevation ponderosa pine forests tend to be very open due to frequent fires and droughty growing conditions. High elevation spruce/fir forests tend to be dense due to infrequent fires and more available moisture. Mid elevation Douglas-fir/western larch, or other mixed coniferous forests may have a mix of both open and dense stands due to highly variable fire return intervals. The northern goshawk is a species that nests in dense, mature or old stands of conifers at most elevations. Sweeping changes have occurred at both low and high elevations to landscapes in which the goshawk historically nested. At low elevations, most of the older forests are gone, due a century of logging. Also, within the patches of older forest that do remain, most are much denser due to 60 years of fire suppression. At high elevations, overall, forests have gotten older due to fire suppression, although timber harvest in some areas has fragmented some older stands into smaller-than-normal patches. 328 existing goshawk nests have been located within Region One. These nest locations were evaluated to determine what vegetative and topographic conditions best explained why those goshawks nested where they did. These vegetative and topographic variables were then used to predict where goshawks might nest within areas where goshawk nest searches had not been conducted. The analysis suggests conservatively that Region One has no less than 1599 pairs of goshawk, or close to historical averages. No research has been done to determine if nests are producing normal numbers of fledglings, or if young birds are being recruited into the adult population. Consequently, it's premature to suggest that goshawks absolutely are not at some risk in Region One. If nest density is any indication, however, this analysis suggests goshawks are doing fine in Region One. . If you'd like to learn more about goshawks click on……… |
