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)

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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

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Habitat Management

• Succession– Class III: Species using a mix of successional

stages• Most species in this class• Require habitat disturbance & protection

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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)

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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