Avian communities show distinct responses to forest-to-bog restoration.

Since the 1990's, attempted restoration of blanket bogs which have been previously afforested with non-native conifers has taken place in Ireland and Britain, with the aim of reinstating hydrological functioning and hence, peatland biodiversity. Here, we assess the conservation benefit of these restoration measures at sites in the west of Ireland, 16-20 years post works, by comparing avian communities between trios of restored (n = 6), near-natural (n = 6), and afforested (n = 6) lowland blanket bogs. We assessed avian community response in terms of differences in the richness and density of all bird species and of Birds of Conservation Concern in Ireland (BoCCI), as well as community composition.