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Gardening with habitat for wildlife species in mind

Oregon Department of Fish and

Wildlife

Oregon Conservation Strategy –

http://www.dfw.state.or.us/conservationstrategy/

Ecoregions

For each ecoregion (8):

• Characteristics (ecology & economy)

• Strategy species and habitat types

• Conservation issues and actions

• Conservation success stories

• Conservation Opportunity Areas maps and profiles

Habitats and SpeciesSix Key Conservation Issues

• Land use changes• Invasive species• Changes in fire, flood regimes• Water quality and quantity• Barriers to fish and wildlife

movement• Institutional barriers to voluntary

conservation

• Grasslands

• Oak woodlands

• Riparian

• Wetlands and wet prairies

Willamette Valley EcoregionStrategy Habitats

• California myotis (bat)

• Western gray squirrel

• Northern red-legged frog

• Northwestern pond turtle

• Western painted turtle

• Chinook salmon

• Winter steelhead

• Acorn woodpecker

• Little willow flycatcher

• Western bluebird

• Western meadowlark

• Fender’s blue butterfly

Willamette Valley EcoregionStrategy Species (59)

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• Benefits to wildlife– Used by 200+ species

• Ecosystems services

Oak Woodlands: Why Care?

• Land use conversion• Fire suppression• Invasive species

Oak Woodlands: Threats

• Characterized by open canopy dominated by oak– 30-60% tree cover

• Common plant associates: – Ponderosa pine, Big leaf maple, OR

ash, snowberry, poison oak, hazel, serviceberry, sword fern, grasses

• Historically abundant; <4% remains

Oak Woodlands and how we can employ the Strategy’s Habitat Approach

• Maintain existing oak woodlands• Control encroaching conifers• Address over-crowding• Re-establish oak woodlands• Control invasive plant species• Restore understory plants

Recommended Conservation Actions

Opportunities within existing woodlands

• Provide for basic wildlife needs by protecting & enhancing food, cover, water, space

• Identify and address limiting factors• Manage habitats to provide multiple stages of

succession• Minimize fragmentation

– Decrease edges– Provide corridors between patches

• Increase habitat diversity– Species & structure– Snags and downed logs

• Nutrient cycling• Pollination• Germination• Seed dispersal• Soil generation• Habitats & niches• Predators on pests • Excrete natural fertilizer• Wildfire risk reduction • Soil stabilization• Water quality, quantity, runoff storage

Broad scale benefits of functioning systems

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Habitat, a biological definition

Habitat is the combination of factors• biotic• abiotic• necessary to produce

– Occupancy, survival, and reproduction by members of a given species

Habitat is:

• Food• Water• Cover• Space• Other species-specific

needs

Native species and species habitat requirements

• Each species’ habitat requirements reflects the native communities in which the species evolved

• Our efforts to provide habitat for native species will be most successful when we can provide native plants, structures, and habitat elements

Structure: Complex can be good!

“hard” vs. “soft” edges

The perils of fragmentation

• Reduced interior area• Increased edge area• Incursion of exterior

conditions in the interior• Increased permeability of

interior to predators, competitors, invasives

• Species-specific minimum patch size may be lost

• Lost connectivity among patches

• Others…

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Cottonwood galleries along the main rivers are the sole source of declining Great Blue

Heron RookeriesBuild it (or protect it) and they

will come…

>>We can provide necessary elements of habitat for native species…

Invertebrates

• Butterflies, native pollinators, and other beneficials

• Some require very species-specific, life stage-specific plants– Example: Fender’s blue butterfly and Kincaid’s lupine

• Others are more generalist and can benefit from a broad range of pollen and nectar-bearing plants

Amphibians

• Maintain wet areas, native water & flows• No (non-native) fish!

• No bullfrogs!• Minimize disturbance – Some species

cannot endure any handling

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Reptiles

• Structure or cover for thermoregulation– Typically need some structure for

overwintering– Turtles especially:

• Basking structure• Protect from non-native predation – bullfrogs on

young!• Protect from non-native, invasive competitors

• No persecution

Herpetiles to consider:

• Pacific tree frog• Red-legged frog• Western newts (permanent ponds)• Long-toed salamanders (ephemeral ponds)Reptiles: • Western pond turtle• Western painted turtle• Garter snakes (They eat slugs!)

BirdsWV has forest species, grassland species, and

edge specialists – Remember to consider species-specific needs

• Food – via choice of plants– Feeders – Pro’s and con’s• Water• Cover and complex structure – via choice and variety of plants• Species preferences for nesting materials• Some will use nest boxes, but size, type, and location

matters! Consult a book or site to learn more, e.g.,www.birdhouses101.com

Birds• Do not create an ecological trap

– Non-native/invasive competitors?– Non-native predators?– Availability of cover near food and water

Think of songbirds, but don’t forget the woodpeckers, owls, and raptors!

Mammals

• Small terrestrial and arboreal mammals– Food: Several are generalists and

omnivorous, but others are more specialized– Food, cover, and structure in proximity so as

to decrease predation• Example: Squirrels need fruit and seed-bearing trees and

shrubs, esp. oaks. They need big enough trees to allow drey and nest-building, along with larder hoards. They are preyed on by avian and terrestrial predators, so cover needs to be close by at all times.

– Avoid creating artificial sources of predation

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Mammals

• Bats– Roost structures– Vegetation that provides habitat for insect

food sources– Water – Some will use– Low- to no-disturbance, especially of

maternity colonies– Very sensitive to pesticides

Be careful of:

Ecological traps

• It “looks” like habitat to an animal, but either:– Something crucial is missing– Something is present that reduces or prevents

survival and reproduction• Animals don’t “know” that it is a trap

• Animals living in ecological traps are “lost” from the population: – abundance, genes, connectivity of populations

Beware of creating hazards or creating new problems…

• What risks and opportunities do you see here?– For wildlife?– For you?– For your neighbors?

??

Are we creating risks?

• Increased risk of predation by– Native or non-native species

• Examples: house cats, koi/goldfish, supplemented native predators

• Increased food or habitat factors for undesirable species

• Examples: rats & spilled bird food, too much cover around stems of rodent-vulnerable shrubs & trees, bird food that increases starling populations

Invasive Species

“Nonnative organisms that cause economic or environmental harm and are capable of spreading to new areas of the state. Invasive species does not include humans, domestic livestock or nonharmful

exotic organisms.”

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Invasive Species:Risks posed for native species

• Changes to ecosystem functions• Loss of biodiversity• Reduction in habitat quality or

direct habitat loss• Direct competition• Direct mortality (e.g., predation)• Introduction of disease

Keep Wildlife WILD!

Habituation can be deadly, damaging, and dangerous

• “Fed bears are dead bears”• A wild animal is always a wild animal

• Habituation often centers on food– Decreased fear of humans– Increased aggressiveness for food or space– Competition/elimination of domestic

“competitors”– Disease or waste products– Prey species attract predators– Other risks…

But remember: With forethought, your choices can

• Provide habitat and connectivity for native species

• Increase ecological services in your garden: – Examples: pollination, predation on insects

• Increase your enjoyment and the value of YOUR habitat while still reaping gardening rewards!

• Contribute to maintaining Oregon’s natural riches