Effects of Special Right-Of-Way Maintenance on an Avian Population

Abstract

The effects of five right-of-way (ROW) maintenance techniques on birds was studied on an electric transmission line right-of-way in central Pennsylvania. The techniques included handcutting and four different herbicide applications. An important feature of these techniques was a differential treatment of wire and border zones of the ROW. Bird censuses made before and after treatment indicated that the total number of birds of the six most common species were not significantly affected by any of the treatments. Although a decrease occurred in the average number of species counted, species diversity after treatment was not significantly different between treatments. Important changes occurred in the relative number of individuals per species and, as a result, in species dominance, after both handcutting and herbicide treatments.