Impacts of Forest Thinning and Clearcutting on Plant and Animal Species Richness in North American Forests: A Meta-Analysis

Understanding how different intensities of timber harvesting affect species richness for plants and animals in North American forests will enable natural resource managers to better control the impacts of harvesting on flora and fauna communities. Previous syntheses have only examined thinning intensity as a categorical variable, comparing low and high intensity. This new meta-analysis examines how thinning intensity affects plant and animal species richness while examining the influence of other factors. Authors find that species richness tended to be greater where thinning intensity was below roughly 50% of trees removed. This threshold does not imply that timber harvest below 50% trees removed would definitely conserve plant and animal species richness, given the complexity of plant and animal responses to harvest.