Several studies have shown that the Three-toed Woodpecker (Picoides tridactylus) is strongly favored by large-scale disturbances, including forest fires. However, natural disturbances have largely disappeared from European boreal forests because of modern forestry practices and fire suppression. We currently lack knowledge on the foraging activity and resource use of the Eurasian Three-toed Woodpecker, especially in burned forests, and this restricts our ability to develop strategies for sustainable forest management and ecological restoration aiming at improving the situation of this woodpecker and associated species. In order to fill this knowledge gap, we studied the characteristics of selected foraging substrates and the foraging behavior of the Three-toed Woodpecker during the breeding season in unburned forests and forests that have been subjected to prescribed burning. We used instantaneous sampling duringtwo consecutive springs (2016-2017), where we observed the woodpeckers’ foraging behavior during a total of 977 minutes in burned forest and 962 minutes in unburned forests. The preferred foraging substrate for Three-toed Woodpeckers in both burned and unburned forests can be characterized as freshly dead trees with a DBH > 15 cm. However, data on time spent foraging on different substrates suggest that also substrates in the 5-15 DBH range and living trees are important. Additionally, prescribed burnings led to less pronounced selection of tree species, which suggest that fire may reduce differences in abundance of saproxylic insect prey between tree species. This information on substrate selection and foraging time provide complementary knowledge and thus should be used simultaneously when management strategies for improved woodpecker habitat are developed. Our results suggest that both prescribed burning and protecting forests with high density and diversity of dead wood provides habitat opportunities for Three-toed Woodpeckers and using both in management may maximize conservation outcome

中文翻译：

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欧亚三趾啄木鸟（Picoides tridactylus）的觅食行为及其对生态恢复和可持续北方森林管理的影响

多项研究表明，三趾啄木鸟 (Picoides tridactylus) 受到包括森林火灾在内的大规模干扰的强烈青睐。然而，由于现代林业实践和灭火，自然干扰在很大程度上从欧洲北方森林中消失了。我们目前缺乏对欧亚三趾啄木鸟的觅食活动和资源利用的了解，尤其是在被烧毁的森林中，这限制了我们制定可持续森林管理和生态恢复战略的能力，以改善这种啄木鸟及其相关物种的状况. 为了填补这一知识空白，我们研究了三趾啄木鸟在繁殖季节在未燃烧的森林和经过规定燃烧的森林中选择的觅食基质的特征和觅食行为。我们在连续两个春季（2016-2017 年）期间使用瞬时采样，我们观察了啄木鸟在烧毁森林中总共 977 分钟的觅食行为，在未烧毁森林中观察了 962 分钟。在燃烧和未燃烧的森林中，三趾啄木鸟的首选觅食基质可以表征为 DBH > 15 cm 的新鲜死树。然而，关于在不同基质上觅食时间的数据表明，5-15 DBH 范围内的基质和活树也很重要。此外，规定的焚烧导致对树种的选择不太明显，这表明火可能会减少树种之间腐生昆虫猎物丰度的差异。这些关于基质选择和觅食时间的信息提供了补充知识，因此在制定改善啄木鸟栖息地的管理策略时应同时使用。我们的结果表明，规定的燃烧和保护具有高密度和多样性死木的森林为三趾啄木鸟提供栖息地机会，并且在管理中使用两者可以最大限度地保护结果