You may have heard that clearcuts ‘increase biodiversity’ for things like birds or ungulates like Deer, Elk and Moose, as often cited by folks who hunt…but unfortunately that just isn’t true.
Clearcuts appear to have a boost in wildlife mostly because it’s more visible, yet a majority of these species still rely on having forests nearby as numerous studies have shown. They also show that these clearcuts don’t actually increase populations of Deer or Elk, but instead consolidate them into areas which in turn makes them more susceptible to predation, or by human hunting, all of which drives down their populations.
After the first decade of a clear cut, the regrowing second-growth forest is too dense for big ungulates to move through so they migrate elsewhere, and after 20 years or so the taller trees form a dense single-layer canopy that blocks sunlight and shades the understory, meaning that very little grows and provides food, effectively making it a biodiversity desert. It can take over 150-300 years for a forest to succeed naturally, and for specific species who require certain structural complexities, it can be thousands of years.
So no - commercial logging and clearcuts don’t actually increase biodiversity of a forest, and are ecologically inappropriate in every single forest type.
Alternatively, select-harvesting that creates mixed age and species stands has been shown to increase biodiversity in second growth stands. So instead of clearcuts of any size, we should be working with selective eco-forestry harvesting practices that fit the specific needs of each forest stand to maintain not only biodiversity, but ecological function that stores carbon and reduces the impacts of wildfires, drought and other climate driven impacts.
Let’s do logging better to create a better world for not only us humans, but the birds, bears, deer, elk and all the others we share these lands with!
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