FSC forest certification effects on bird biodiversity: Insights from Eucalyptus plantations in central-East Portugal

Abstract

Forests are vital for ecological balance, supporting biodiversity and providing essential ecosystem services. However, increasing demand for forest products has led to extensive conversion of natural forests into agricultural lands and to the expansion of forestry areas. These changes disrupt community composition and ecological processes, contributing to biodiversity loss. While natural forests are declining globally, planted forests are expanding, raising concerns about their impact on biodiversity and highlighting the need to balance human demands with ecosystem protection. Mitigating forestry impacts on biodiversity can be achieved through conservation-oriented practices like forest certification. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) aims to promote forest integrity and biodiversity conservation. In Portugal, exotic Eucalyptus plantations (EPs) cover about 308,000 hectares, half of which are FSCcertified. Despite offering limited resources, EPs can still support some wildlife. However, there’s still little knowledge on how bird communities persist in EPs and how they respond to sustainable forest management. To understand how FSC certification affects bird communities, point-count surveys of bird species were conducted in central-east Portugal across seven areas representing three forest management types: FSC-certified (n=3), non-certified (n=2), and protected areas (n=2), during winter and spring. Our findings indicate that native forests consistently support greater bird species richness, diversity, and abundance, highlighting their importance for bird conservation in plantation-affected landscapes. FSC-certified plantations, while not equated to native forests, host bird communities sometimes more similar to them than to non-certified plantations, suggesting a mitigation role of certification. Non-certified plantations had the lowest levels of biodiversity metrics, reflecting the negative impact of intensive, less-regulated forestry practices. Seasonal habitat shifts, vegetation cover and forestry activities further shape bird assemblages, reinforcing the importance of multi-season monitoring and improved management practices. To maximise FSC’s conservation benefits, efforts should focus on strengthening ground-level native vegetation, integrating mixed-use landscapes, and implementing standardised monitoring and harvesting limits.