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Christopher Andrew Liazos is a 2025 graduate of the MS Program in Environmental Studies at Antioch University, New England.

Thesis Committee:

Michael E. Akresh, Ph.D., Chairperson

Hale, Morrell, M.S., Committee Member

Keywords

avian, silviculture, conservation value, post-fledging, stocking

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

Forest bird community decline in the eastern United States is partly due to the lack of early-and-late-successional forests stemming from historic land use. Silviculture can create underrepresented forest age classes and structures to support avian communities during the breeding and post-fledging periods. In southwestern New Hampshire, we conducted a case study evaluating avian conservation value indices across silvicultural systems. Our goal was to observe how avian conservation value indexes and abundance differed between recently managed and unmanaged stands. We surveyed 215 breeding and 118 post-fledging points across 22 sites using point counts and vegetation surveys. Conservation values in the breeding period were best explained by canopy cover mean and variance, while in the post-fledging period, they were best explained by canopy cover and understory vegetation density. Clearcuts and shelterwoods had higher conservation values than high-retention stands for both periods. Conservation values were relatively similar between low-and mid-retention stands in the breeding period, while highest in low-retention in the post-fledging period. Overall, our study demonstrated how silviculture can support forest bird communities across both periods. To guide real-world management decisions, we also provided stocking charts with predicted periodic conservation value indices and breeding species abundances as a viable tool to guide actionable decision-making for foresters. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu).

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ORCID iD 0009-0009-0102-9300

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