habitat management what is wildlife habitat management? what is succession? how do wildlife habitat...
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Habitat Management
• What is wildlife habitat management?
• What is succession?
• How do wildlife habitat requirements & succession relate?
Habitat Management
• Habitat management & restoration, what’s the difference?
• How do landscape factors affect habitat management?
• What effects do exotic species & climate change have on habitat management?
Habitat Management
• What is Wildlife Habitat Management?
The deliberate act of manipulating wildlife habitat for the benefit of wildlife and people. (Yarrow & Yarrow 1999)
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Habitat Management
• What is Wildlife Habitat Management?
The manipulation of the successional stage and physical structure of vegetation to benefit particular species, or assemblages of species, considered to be of high conservation priority, or other intrinsic value. (Ausden 2007)
Habitat Management
• What is Wildlife Habitat Management?– Habitat management also includes:
• Manipulations to increase prey• Provision of nest sites• Control of unwanted plants• Minimizing effects of damage by humans• Herbivore control • Other artificial improvements• Conditions & the physical environment
(Ausden 2007)
Credit: naturalsciences.org
Habitat Management
• Wildlife Habitat Management– Succession
Process by which assemblages of plants and animals change over time in the absence of disturbance (Ausden 2007)
Habitat Management
• Succession– Progressive development/change of a biotic
community• Replacement of species• Modification of the physical environment• Advances through a series of seres• Terminates in a climax community
Predictions possible
Habitat Management
• Succession– Types of succession
• Primary• Secondary
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Habitat Management
• Succession
(City University of New York, 2008)
Habitat Management
• Succession– Occurs in terrestrial & aquatic systems
• Xerarch - on land; towards a wetter state• Hydrarch – in aquatic habitats; towards a drier state
– Oligotrophic & eutrophic
Credit: fed.fs.us Credit: erie-county-ohio.net
Habitat Management
• Succession– Retrogression
• Opposite of succession• Replacement towards earlier conditions
– Acceleration
Habitat Management
• Succession– Factors affecting succession & seral stages
• Current vegetation• Surrounding vegetation• Past vegetation• Resource levels• Conditions• Disturbance levels• Stochastic factors
Habitat Management
• Rate & Direction of Succession– Vegetation & soil*
• Removal & disturbance– Herbivores (and Omnivores)
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Habitat Management
• Rate & Direction of Succession– Vegetation removal & disturbance
• Physical disturbance events• Periodic large scale herbivory by insects• Outbreaks of disease in plants
– Habitat management can mimic natural processes
Habitat Management
• Succession– Mimicking natural processes
• Prescribed burning• Grazing• Application of chemicals• Mechanical treatments
Credit: forestryimages.org
Credit: E. WillcoxCredit: E. WillcoxCredit: eih.uh.edu
Habitat Management
• Succession– Wildlife habitat requirements & succession
(Yarrow & Yarrow 1999)
Habitat Management
• Succession– Classifying wildlife based on habitat requirements
& succession
Class Examples Habitat Management Prescription
I: Climax-adapted species Spruce grouseSnowshoe harePileated woodpecker
Protection
II: Species adapted to developmental stages of succession
Bobwhite quailCottontail rabbitGrasshopper sparrow
Disturbance: logging, fire, mechanical treatments etc.
III: Species requiring a mixture of successional stages
Ruffed grouseWhite-tailed deerMule deer
Protect or disturb to increase limiting habitat type
(Adapted from Bailey 1984)
Habitat Management
• Succession– Class I: Climax-adapted wildlife species
• More specialized in habitat requirements• Less adaptable to habitat change• Many rare and endangered• Hindered or extirpated by disturbance• Habitat management emphasizes protection
Habitat Management
• Succession– Class II: Species of developmental stages
• Require temporary vegetation• More generalized in habitat requirements• Adaptable to habitat change
Credit: audubon.org Credit: claycountyquail.com Credit: uoguelph.ca
Habitat Management
• Succession– Class III: Species using a mix of successional
stages• Most species in this class• Require habitat disturbance & protection
Credit: forestryimages.org Credit: forestryimages.org
Habitat Management
• Wildlife Habitat Management– Habitat Management v. Restoration
Habitat Management
• Other habitat management considerations– Landscape factors (space & scale)
• Area of habitat• Fragmentation• Edge effects• Surrounding habitats
Habitat Management
• Landscape Factors– Area of habitat
• Area sensitivity• Minimum requirements
• Cost to manage
SpeciesHabitat Area Needed to Reach
50% Incidence (Ha)
Upland Sandpiper 200
Grasshopper Sparrow 100
Savannah Sparrow 10(Vickery et al. 1994)
Habitat Management
• Landscape Factors– Fragmentation
The disruption of extensive habitats into isolated and small patches (Meffe et al. 1994)
Credit: uwrf.edu Credit: fs.fed.us
Habitat Management
• Landscape Factors– Fragmentation types
• Perforation - making holes in a habitat• Dissection - sub-dividing with lines• Fragmentation - breaking up into smaller parts
Habitat Management
• Landscape Factors– Fragmentation type cont.
• Shrinkage - decrease of size of patches• Attrition - loss of existing patches
(apc.tamu.edu 2008)
Habitat Management
• Landscape Factors– Fragmentation
• Spatial effects
Increase Decrease
Patch density Connectivity
Inter-patch distance Interior to edge ratios
Boundary length Core size
Total interior area
Habitat Management
• Landscape Factors– Fragmentation
• Species effects
Increase Decrease
Isolation Dispersal of interior specialists
No. of generalists Large home range species
No. of multi-habitat species Richness of interior species
Exotics
Nest predation
Habitat Management
• Landscape Features – Fragmentation
• Importance of connectivity• Ability of species to disperse• Use of habitat corridors
Metapopulations
Habitat Management
• Landscape Factors– Edge effects
• Occur at margins of habitat patches– Invasion of exotics– Disease spread– Increased predation– Increased parasitism– Change in water levels & humidity (conditions)– Pesticide drift & fertilizer runoff
Habitat Management
• Landscape Factors– Surrounding habitat
• Interchange of individuals• Predation & parasitism• Proximity of other suitable habitats
Credit: mo.gov Credit: forestryimages.org Credit: fws.org
Habitat Management
• Other considerations– Exotic species– Climate change
Habitat Management
• Exotic Species (plants & animals)– Compete with native vegetation & wildlife– Reduce habitat quality
• Benefits & costs of control– Spread– Replacement– Re-colonization
Habitat Management
• Climate Change– Effects on wildlife
• Changes in climatic conditions at sites• Alterations to habitat requirements• Changes in the timing of biological events• Effects of adverse weather during migration• Loss of coastal habitats due to sea-level rise
Habitat Management
• Climate Change– Mitigation & compensation
Habitat Management
• Climate Change– Mitigation & Compensation
• Facilitate wildlife spread to future climate envelopes– Linking habitats– Translocation
• Changes in management practices
Credit: ia.nrcs.usda.gov
Habitat Management
• Habitat Management– Management of succession & other
• Meet wildlife habitat requirements
– Compared to restoration– Effects of landscape factors– Effects of exotic species & climate change
Philosophy
• For what degree of naturalness should we manage habitat?
• Habitat management approaches
• To what extent should habitat management be integrated with other interests and values?
• What consideration should be given to the cost of habitat management?
Philosophy
• What Degree of Naturalness?– What is possible?
Original Natural State
Absolutely Artificial
State
Cultural Habitats
IncreasingHuman Influence
Philosophy
“We might, if we chose to spend the money, release each year millions of artificially reared
birds, and thus “maintain” a supply of game in the quantitative sense. But would we thus maintain
value? I think not.”
Aldo Leopold
Philosophy
“How shall we conserve wild lifewithout evicting ourselves”
Aldo Leopold
Philosophy
• What Degree of Naturalness?– Depends on goals
• Effects on species present– Increases – Decreases– Colonization's– Extirpations
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Philosophy
• Habitat Management Approaches– Featured (single) species management– Multiple species management– Biodiversity management– Ecosystem management
• Intervention & naturalness
Philosophy
• Habitat Management Approaches– Featured (single) species management
Credit: ebird.com
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Credit: action.earthpress.com
Philosophy
• Habitat Management Approaches– Multiple species management
Philosophy
• Featured & multiple species management– Level of Intervention & naturalness
• E.g., Increasing food supply for wintering waterfowl– Artificially manipulate water levels– Sow favored foods within wetlands– Plant food plots on adjacent arable lands– Feed with grain
Greater level of intervention
Philosophy
• Habitat Management Approaches– Biodiversity management
• Level of Intervention & naturalness• Same as Ecosystem Management?
Philosophy
• Habitat Management Approaches– Ecosystem management
• Level of Intervention & naturalness• Preservation
– E.g., Sandhill
Philosophy
• Habitat Management Approaches– Ecosystem management
Resource management systems designed to produce essential commodities and other values to meet human needs and desires, and
to maintain and enhance soil productivity, gene conservation, biodiversity, landscape patterns, and the array of ecological processes common to healthy ecosystems (UF SFRC 2009)
Philosophy
• Habitat Management Approaches– Ecosystem management
Any land-management system that seeks to protect viable populations of all native species,
perpetuate natural disturbance regimes on the regional scale, adopt a planning timeline of
centuries, and allow human use at levels that do not result in long-term ecological degradation (MSU 2009)
Philosophy
• Habitat Management Approaches– Ecosystem management
Integrates scientific knowledge of ecological relationships within a complex sociopolitical and values framework toward the general goal of protecting native ecosystem integrity over the long term (Grumbine 1994)
Philosophy
• Habitat Management Approaches– Ecosystem management
• Maintain viable populations of native species• Represent all native ecosystem types• Maintain evolutionary & ecological processes*• Maintain evolutionary potential • Accommodate human use*
Philosophy
• Habitat Management Approaches– Ecosystem management
• Ecological integrity– Restore or maintain key natural processes
» Encourage keystone species
- Human dimensions issues
Credit: animals.nationalgeographic.com
Credit: animals.nationalgeographic.com
Credit: maxwaugh.com
Credit: fs.fed.us
Philosophy
• Habitat Management Approaches– Ecosystem management
• Ecological Integrity – Restore or maintain key natural processes
» Disturbances (e.g., fire, herbivory, disease, etc.)
- Natural vs. artificial (mimic)
- Human dimensions issues
» Level of control over grazing regimes
- Discrete periods
- Naturalistic
- Rewilded
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Philosophy
• Habitat Management Approaches– Ecosystem management
• Ecological integrity– Restore or maintain key natural processes
» Systems dissimilar to natural state – is it possbile?
- Land-use history & change
Credit: tour.com.auCredit: dnrc.mt.gov
Philosophy
• Integrating Habitat Management with Other Interests– Recreation– Education & research– Landscape & aesthetic considerations– Cultural history– Resource use– Wider environmental benefits
Philosophy
• Cost of Management– Level of intervention & degree of naturalness
Philosophy
• Habitat Management– Degree of naturalness– Habitat management approaches– Extent of integration– Consideration of cost