Reconciliation of timber production and wildlife conservation is a major challenge in forest ecosystem management. For some protected species impacts of forest management are well documented, but for others such as the Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) (hereafter ‘red squirrel’) they are still largely unknown. In Scotland, red squirrels are protected under national and international law and their presence needs to be carefully considered in forest management planning. This study investigated red squirrel responses to forest management activities and we specifically looked at the impact of standard thinning operations on red squirrel breeding activity, survival, population density and home range. From January to September 2017, we radio-tracked 22 individual red squirrels in a conifer plantation in the Highlands of Scotland, with standard thinning operations taking place during May 2017. Our results show that red squirrel survival was relatively high compared to sites without forest operations and breeding activity continued with no detectable impact of forest operations. Red squirrel population density was higher after thinning operations. Whilst space use changed for a handful of individuals, home ranges and core areas overall did not significantly change in response to thinning operations. Our findings suggest the impact of the standard thinning operations with a basal area reduction from 42 m²/ha to 32 m²/ha on red squirrels during the breeding season were minimal.

木材生产与野生动植物保护之间的协调是森林生态系统管理的主要挑战。对于某些受保护物种，森林经营的影响已得到充分记录，但对于其他物种，如欧亚红松鼠（寻常松鼠））（以下称为“红松鼠”），至今仍然鲜为人知。在苏格兰，红松鼠受到国家和国际法律的保护，在森林经营规划中需要仔细考虑它们的存在。这项研究调查了红松鼠对森林经营活动的反应，我们专门研究了标准间伐作业对红松鼠育种活动，生存，种群密度和居所范围的影响。从2017年1月至9月，我们在苏格兰高地的针叶树人工林中对22只红松鼠进行了无线电跟踪，并于2017年5月进行了标准的细化作业。我们的结果表明，与没有森林作业的地点相比，红松鼠的存活率相对较高育种活动继续进行，没有森林经营活动的可察觉影响。细化操作后，红松鼠的种群密度更高。尽管少数人的空间使用发生了变化，但总体上房屋范围和核心区域并没有因变薄操作而发生显着变化。我们的研究结果表明，从42 m的基础面积减少到标准的间伐操作的影响在繁殖季节，红松鼠的面积从每公顷² / ha降至32 m ² / ha最小。