Hniezdne zoskupenia vtákov v ochranných dubových lesoch sa môžu podobať zoskupeniam v prírodných dubinách / Breeding bird assemblages in protection oak forests can be similar to those in natural oak forests

Protection oak forests, preserving soils from erosion on steep rocky slopes, ridges and screes, could be important habitats for breeding bird assemblages similar to those in natural oak forests. In the paper, I compared the structure of breeding bird assemblages and woody vegetation in an 105 years old protection oak forest with those in an 190 years old natural oak forest and in a 60–80 years old production oak forest. A modified point census method was used to estimate breeding bird abundance during the breeding period in 2016. The breeding bird assemblages within the three study plots were similar with respect to bird species composition, abundance and diversity. However, both the species number of cavity nesters and their abundance per census point were statistically significantly higher in the natural and protection forests than in the production forest. The abundance of crown nesters per census point was statistically significantly higher in the production forest compared with the natural and protection forests. Statistically significant differences were found also in the structure of woody vegetation. In total, only four statistically significant differences in the structure of breeding bird assemblages and woody vegetation were found between the natural and protection forests, but 14 between the natural and production forests, and 12 between the protection and production forests. This suggests that the protection forest under study was much more similar to the natural forest in relation to the structure of breeding bird assemblage and woody vegetation than to the production forest. Protection oak forests thus have high biocoenological potential because of their relatively natural character, and they represent refuges for preserving bird biodiversity in surrounding intensively managed production forests.