10: Wildlife Habitat Management
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Define wildlife management, and provide examples of why wildlife management is needed.
I. What do wildlife need? (Water, food, shelter)
How can we improve those?
I. Food
A. Propogation
· Describe and give examples for propogation (for “browse”, “mast”, or cereal crops)
· Describe how planting food for herbivores also benefits carnivores
B. Release – reduction of competition
· clearing out plants to allow others to grow
· More room for different species
· More room for healthy plants of same species
· Types of Release
o Mechanical (layers of forest area)
o chemical (selective herbicides important)
o burning (controlled burns or prescribed burns)
§ reduces dead load
§ recycles nutrients to soil
§ must be timed right
II. Shelter and Protection
§ Screening or fencing plants that are growing so they can grow big enough to serve as food
§ Providing cover
o Thick plantings, brush piles, artificial nesting sites
§ Example - barn swallow nests on campus
§ Know other examples (nesting boxes, etc)
§ Fencing/other means to keep bigger animals OUT so plants can recover (or exclude “nuisance” animals
§ Highway over and underpasses
§ Predator exclosures –fencing, metal collars around poles and trees
III. Edge vs. interior species (give examples of species that use each)
§ Edge –food, cover, water in close proximity to each other
§ Interior –large stretches of undisturbed habitat
IV. Water development
§ Improvement of natural water sources (springs, seeps, water holes)
§ Guzzlers –water tight tanks set in ground, collect rainwater, ramp leads to opening
§ Artificial ponds, even bird baths
§ (not all wildlife needs water sources)
- 11.1: What is wildlife management?
- Wildlife management is the process of protecting both wildlife species and humans in their interactions. Successful wildlife management involves making decisions based on sound science.