Worldwide, riparian areas are considered among the most biologically productive and species-rich habitats on the landscape and provide important breeding areas for many bird species. In the Boreal Plain ecozone of western Canada, forests adjacent to riparian areas are generally protected from forest harvesting through the retention of treed buffer strips.

Riparian buffer strips are expected to provide habitat for wildlife including many passerine bird species. Recently, non-conventional methods of riparian management have been implemented in parts of the Boreal Plain with the intent of aligning forestry more closely with natural disturbance processes. How bird communities associated with these management scenarios diverge from natural disturbances and how riparian birds interact with disturbances in the adjacent upland habitat are key questions in the conservation of boreal riparian bird communities. To answer these questions, I surveyed birds inhabiting riparian areas with adjacent naturally disturbed (burned) and harvested forest to determine how bird communities differ early (1-5 years) post-disturbance and, separately, in a before-and-after harvesting study.

Riparian species associated with burned merchantable shoreline forests and riparian areas included Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) and Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus). Le Contes Sparrow (Ammodramus leconteii) was associated with burned riparian habitats adjacent to non-merchantable forests (e.g., bog, fen), while Alder Flycatcher (Empidonax alnorum) and Wilsons Warbler (Wilsonia pusilla) were indicative of harvested sites with larger buffers (30 m). Riparian species richness was highest in burned non-merchantable sites. Multivariate Redundancy Analysis of post-disturbance bird communities showed greater divergence in overall (riparian and upland) community composition than one with only riparian species.