Response of breeding birds to shearing and burning in wetland brush ecosystems

In the absence of wildfire, emergent wetlands in the American Midwest often succeed to a shrub/scrub wetland type. Management activities, including shearing and burning are typically used to remove shrub, resulting in a more open emergent wetland condition. We surveyed breeding birds in managed and unmanaged shrub/scrub wetlands in northeast Minnesota, USA, in 1996 and 1997 to examine breeding bird response to management type (burning and shearing) and time elapsed since management. In a comparison of 58 managed sites and 58 unmanaged sites in 1996, unmanaged sites had more (P