Lecture 7 - Forest Wildlife Management Flashcards
How do forests influence wildlife?
They provide food and shelter
How does wildlife influence forests?
They are agents of seed dispersal, influencers of succession through foraging, and they help to maintain ecosystem services
What are the 2 reasons that humans manage wildlife for?
- to minimize disturbance/destruction and to maximize forest productivity
- because forests are important to wildlife (biodiversity important)
What are some values of wildlife?
- aesthetics
- recreation (hunting, hiking, bird watching)
- ecotourism
- industry (focused on hunting - infrastructure built to support it)
Through what ways does wildlife interact?
- territory: some species need a certain amt of space to survive as well as some get territorially defensive
- consumptive interactions: cannibalism (ex. hawks) and predation/herbivory (removal of predator can unbalance predator-prey cycle)
Explain early successional habitats
- some species thrive in these conditions
- some species adapt to these conditions
- some species are short lived and depend on these conditions
Explain old growth forest habitat (late succession)
- they provide unique habitats
- ex. CC results in loss of lichens needed for caribou so selective logging is a solution
Explain middle-growth habitats
- some species require habitat that has all stages (ex. moose) as it provides a wide variety of veg types
What is edge habitat?
- provides food and shelter
- individuals gain benefits from having clearings and forest together
- it is dangerous b/c of the high predator concentration
What is a riparian zone?
- transition b/w land and water
- have high species diversity because it houses species requiring water and terrestrial habitat
- periodic flooding helps to redistribute nutrients
- riparian zones are often lost due to agriculture, roads, dams, and urban sprawl
What are the main wildlife effects on forests?
- seed dispersal
- insect predation
- herbivory
How does seed dispersal effect forests?
- wildlife often helps to redistribute seeds (ex. heavy seeds)
- sometimes, seeds must first pass through an animal to germinate
- rodents are important for dispersing mycorrhizal fungi to help promote conifer establishment
How does insect predation effect forests?
- birds and small mammals consume large amts of insects that can defoliate trees (ex. spruce budworm)
- however, during intense outbreaks, wildlife cannot keep pops under control
How does herbivory effect forests?
- wildlife is an agent of disturbance and can maintain an ecosystem in an early successional stage
- ex. browsing by deer, moose, and elk prevents woody plants from establishing
- ex 2. beavers influence riparian habitats
- ex 3. rabbits/rodents feed on the bark of young trees
What are the main negative effects of forest management on wildlife?
- fire suppression
- timber harvest
- fragmentation
- pesticides/herbicides
How does fire suppression effect wildlife?
- controversial topic as fire can cause substantial damage to commercial value
- fire is required by some species (ex, jack pine, oak savannas and kirkland warbler)
- prescribed fires often occur now to maintain landscape while staying in control of fire
How does timber harvest effect wildlife?
- manmade gaps are beneficial to early successional species
- wildlife can utilize gaps/openings made by timber harvest; however, these openings are very different than the disturbance of fire (different conditions created)
How does fragmentation effect wildlife?
- increased intensity of forest management leads to fragmentation
- caused by harvest, construction, residential housing, etc.
- many species are dependent on large tracks of interior forest, leaving them at higher risk of extinction
- edge habitat species flourish in fragmentation
How do pesticides/herbicides effect wildlife?
- they are toxic to wildlife (some are bioaccumulators)
- use of agrochemicals in agriculturally intense areas can impact wildlife
- ex. to manage spruce budworm, DDT was used, but it thinned bald eagle eggshells, reducing the pop, so it was banned and allowed the pop to recover
How should forests be managed for biodiversity?
- retain habitat that is diverse and sufficient for supporting certain species (ex. grizzly bear)
- ex. 80% of avian extinction is due to habitat loss :(
- recreate disturbances of habitat for species that require it (ex. prescribed burning)
What are the main wildlife considerations in forest ecosystem management? (What should we do/value in forests for the sake of wildlife?)
- value of woody debris
- riparian zones
- habitat manipulation
- population control
How is woody debris a main consideration in forest ecosystem management?
- it’s viewed as an eye sore but is important in wildlife habitat
- decaying wood provides food for microorganisms, which are food for small mammals and birds
- woody debris is also important for nutrient cycling
How are riparian zones a main consideration in forest ecosystem management?
- they protect streams from sedimentation and nutrient runoff
- maintains water quality for aquatic species (reduces eutrophication)
- wide buffers provide more protection
- debris dams provide habitat and a source of nutrient release for stream wildlife
How is habitat manipulation a main consideration in forest ecosystem management?
- it can enhance selected wildlife (ex. clear cutting aspen can enhance shoot growth and enhance grouse habitat)
- planting food and cover crops distracts wildlife from agricultural fields/crops
- selective logging can hasten the development of old growth habitat
How is population control a main consideration in forest ecosystem management?
- undisturbed pops are dynamic equilibriums (pop levels fluctuate based on environmental influences)
- controlling pops/eliminating a predator negatively influences the equilibrium (pop out of control)
