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Biology LibreTexts

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)

 


This page titled 10: Wildlife Habitat Management is shared under a CC BY license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Karen Moody and Al Gonzalez (Open Educational Resource Initiative at Evergreen Valley College) .

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