12. Habitats and their management: its importance based on examples from small game management.

Question 1

Habitat and Small game

Answer 1

Habitat:
An environment that supplies everything wildlife needs to sustain life (food, cover, water, space)
When habitat factors are in good supply, they contribute to the well-being of wildlife
If factors are in short supply, it limits the number and distribution of wildlife (limiting factor)
Most small game are decreasing, including brown hare, grey partridge, pheasant

Field small game: Brown hare, rabbit, pheasant, grey partridge
Waterfowl: Tiaga bean goose, greater white-fronted goose, mallard, eurasian coot
Forest small game: Eurasian woodcock, Eurasian collared dove, common wood pigeon

Question 2

Typically r-strategists

Answer 2

The potential offspring number is high
High losses (short-term fluctuation is very variable)
Population is fluctuating significantly from year to year

Question 3

Habitat management

Answer 3

• Managing habitats for wildlife involves influencing the successional stage and physical structure of vegetation to benefit particular species, or associations of species, considered to be of high conservation or other value.
• Succession is the process by which assemblages(associations) of plants and animals change over time in the absence of disturbance.
• The game feeding (feeding of different game species) and the management of the crop field (feeding ground) is a part of the habitat management.
• But the habitat management is a long-term procedure (at least 5-10 years) and concern huge area (hundred or thousands hectares)
  Habitat management includes:
• Manipulations to specifically increase the abundance and accessibility of prey
• Provision of nest sites
• Control of unwanted plants, which are often alien or exotic species
• Minimizing the effects of damaging human activity
  Planting vegetation – although this usually belong to the habitat(re)creation or restoration

Ways to help provide wildlife a good quality habitat:
- Do not clear wild areas to make land appear tidy
- Protect wildlife areas from livestock
- Plant food for wildlife: grains, fruit brushes, grasses, legumes
- Leave branches in the forest for cover and food
- Create pools or offer wetland areas
- Food plots
- Controlled burning
- Control invasive plants and preys
- Mechanical brush or grass control

Habitat management –> habitat improvement –> habitat restoration

Question 4

The impact of agriculture on small game:

Answer 4

Most important changes in the last half-century:
- cultivation of natural grounds - large field sizes;
- cessation and degradation of shrubs, hedges, small lakes,reedy areas, wet meadows (essential habitats for the smallgame animals);
- plant producing became intensive→diversity of plant species has been decreasing
- monocultural plant production (corn); impoverishment of the habitat
- agro-technology:
o chemicals (herbicides, artificial fertilisers)
o mowing, hay-making (mowing machines)
- Periods of food shortage (after the harvesting of crops from late summer)

Changing hunting regulations
* Hunting techniques limited
* ban of methods
* several species removed from the hunting lists
* Predators increased
* unconditional protection of all birds of prey
* protection of most mammal predators

Question 5

The importance of habitat management for small game: Brown Hare / Partridge

Answer 5

Brown hare:
- Problems:
o Lack of food in the late summer
o Game damages (crop plants, plantations, orchards)
o Disappearance of cover
o Habitat degradation
o Intensive agricultural methods (chemical, mechanization, landscape, diversity, crop/weed diversity)
o Afforestation of great areas
o Expansion of big game species
- Requirement/ solutions:
o Preference of field habitats
o Diverse mosaic biotopes
o Small field sizes
o Grasslands, pastures
o Narrow forest belts
o Ploughings in winter
o Mowing methods (alternative > disc > drum, chain curtain, mowing from the middle outward, leave hiding strips)
- Implementations:
o Support habitat development
o Regional game management plans
o Long term habitat development plans
o Adaptative management: data based action monitoring
o Succulent forage provided during the summer

Partridge
- Problems
o Decreasing diversity
 Cultivated plants
 Parcel size
 Weed- and insect species
o Breaking of food chain (increased use of pesticides and herbicides)
 Insects living in weeds/herbs act as a food source
 Weeds provide habitat for insects
o Development of intensive farming practice (agricultural machines with huge work efficiency)
- Requirements:
o Mosaic-like environment
o Diverse cultivated plants and weeds
o Spatial diversity, resting sites small agricultural fields
o Linear areas – hedges, roadside verges, weedy ruderalia
- Management plans:
o Main target is to increase the density of ecotones (A region of transition between two biological communities)
o Pesticide-free field margins
o Unmoved grassland and alfalfa margins
o Predator control
o Increase biodiversity
o Increase mosaic habitats
o Manage succession
o Regulate population size
o Predator control
o Human-wildlife interaction
o Modifying farming practices
 Crop rotation to decease pesticide use: species like alfalfa bring nitrogen back to soil naturally
 Use polyculture to increase diversity and decrease the need to use pesticides
 Selective use of pesticides