Management of early-successional communities in central hardwood forests: with special emphasis on the ecology and management of oaks, ruffed grouse, and forest songbirds.

In this paper we describe the ecology and management of young forest communities in the Central Hardwood Region. We refer to these young forest communities as early-successional forest because they are in the early stages of forest regeneration or growth following a disturbance. We focus on early-successional species here for several reasons. In general there is concern about the status of forest wildlife in eastern forests because of the loss, fragmentation, or change in forest habitats as a result of land-use practices such as land development, agriculture, and forest management. Some of the forest-dwelling species that are declining specialize in early-successional forest habitats. These include the ruffed grouse (chapter 3), several neotropical migratory songbirds (chapter 4), and the American woodcock