1. Integrating Forest and Wildlife Management

2. What We’ll Cover... The Basics Edge Management Timber Management
Prescribed Fire
Herbicides
Dead Wood

3. Objectives? Where does wildlife rank in list?
Wildlife management costs money.
How much money to spend?
What is my resource (soil, acreage, forest types, etc.)?
What are my target species?

4. Management Plan Designed to meet objectives Consistent guidelines
Maps and (projections)
Forestry Consultant and State Biologist
Forest Stewardship Program

5. Basic Needs Cover Food (Quantity and Quality)
Water (Usually available)
Cover
often limiting factor
Distributed across your property

6. NO single forest stand can provide quality habitat for all wildlife species!!

7. Food Plot Management Does Not Equal Wildlife Management!!

8. Native Plants Native animals adapted to native plants
Many exotics become invasive and replace important natives
Wildlifers lead the search for the silver bullet
Must think long term

9. Two Basic Principles vertical horizontal
Plant Diversity = Wildlife Diversity
Structural Diversity = Wildlife Diversity
vertical
horizontal

10. Plant Diversity Butterfly larva are host plant specific
Manage for Ferns, Vines, Shrubs, Grasses, Trees
High plant diversity
presence of BUFFER foods
SEASONALITY

11. Buffer Foods
White Oak
Red Oak

12. Seasonality
Mulberry in Spring
Black Cherry in Fall
Holly in Winter

13. Vertical Structure Over story Mid story Under story Shrub Herb
Forest floor

14. Vertical Structure Birds segregate vertically  shrub cover
Ground/shrub cover important for many wildlife (Gravity)
deer, quail, rabbits

15. Vertical Structure

16. Horizontal Structure Edges = horizontal structure Access to 2 Habitats
Unique conditions
High vertical structure

17. Edges & Predators May concentrate travel along edges More prey?
Reduced nesting success

18. Irregularly-shaped Stands
3,600 Ft2 of edge
Interior
Interior
Edge
Edge
6,000 Ft2 of edge

19. Edge Management Thin timber more heavily near edge
Disk ft. strips at stand edges
Disk every 1-3 years
Fire breaks
Logging Roads
Daylight roads

20. Feathered Edge
Shrubs
Annuals
Just
Disked

21. Timing of Disking Ragweed Spring disking Summer disking
grasses (panic grass)
Summer disking
variety of vegetation
Fall/Winter disking
heavy seeds (ragweed, doveweed, partridge pea)

22. Timber Management A Wildlife Manager’s BEST tool
Forest harvest and regeneration
Site preparation
Intermediate stand treatments
Other practices
Before any silvicultural practices are conducted, special habitat components should be inventoried and protected

23. “Unique” or Special Habitats
Vernal Ponds
Wetlands (shallow water)
Old Home Sites
Oak Groves
Blackberry thickets
Rock outcrops

24. Primary Succession

25. Secondary Succession Takes place after deforestation or clear-cut
Different animals prefer different forest ages

26. Timber Harvest/Regeneration
Even-aged Systems
Clearcut
Shelterwood/Seed Tree
Uneven-aged Systems
Group selection
Single-tree selection

27. Clearcuts Benefits many game species Benefits many songbirds/rodents
COVER
Abundant seed & fruit
Irregular shape s edge
Keep most <50 acres

28. Shelterwood/Seed Tree
Wildlife benefits similar to clearcuts
Same guidelines as clearcutting for size, shape, and arrangement of harvests
Maintains canopy
mast trees
raptor perches

29. Group Selection ‘Miniature clearcuts’ (1 - 2 acres)
Increases edge, plant diversity & vertical structure
High wildlife diversity
Maintains canopy
Maintains mast
Use in SMZs

30. Optimal Area Distribution by Cut Size

31. *Harvest Preferences Clear cut Shelter Wood Group Selection
Single Tree
Uncut (>50)
Prairie Warbler
***** **
Common Yellow Throat
*** *
Indigo Bunting
****
Red-eyed Vireo
Hooded Warbler
Oven Bird
*From Annand and Thompson, JWM 61:

32. Young Forests Common Yellowthroat Early-succession habitat important
COVER
Common Yellowthroat

33. Planting Plant at 10x10 spacing or greater
Consider longleaf pine on the right site
tolerates fire at early age
grass stage is good cover
sparse crown that allows sunlight to reach forest floor

34. Mechanical Site-prep
Sheering, root raking, burning, drum-chopping, disking & bedding
Intensive temporarily favors herbaceous plants, reduces woody plants
More intensive may reduce long term plant diversity

35. Chemical Site-prep Herbicides Short term (2 year) Impacts
Banded or Spot application

36. Intermediate Stand Treatments

37. Thinned and Burned

38. Thinning Guidelines 70 ft2/acre basal area <50 ft2/acre for quail
Higher BA on better sites
Leave mast trees
Avoid high grade

39. Wildlife Benefits from Thinning
Increased sunlight in understory
Release mast producers
Increase acorn production
Leave snags
THIN and BURN
Baseball Technique

40. Winter Burning Good cover summer after burn
Poor cover following winter (hardwood sprouts)

41. Sweetgum saplings don’t provide winter cover
Baseball easily seen at 10 foot distance

42. Nut and Fruit Production
Release oaks with dominant crowns
yr. oaks produce best
14-24” DBH oaks produce best
water, laurel, willow oak most consistent
20 square feet/acre of mast producers
hickory, beech, dogwood, black gum, cherry, persimmon, blueberry, blackberry

43. Recent History of Fire in SE
Native Americans for last 12,000 years
drive or increase game
increase visibility from enemies
Lightning fires in spring/summer
Plants and animals adapted

44. Direct Death from Fire RARE Birds fly Large mammals run
Small animals seek refuge
logs, rocks, & underground burrows
Glass lizards, box turtles and young are exceptions

45. Shrubland Songbirds 3-4 year intervals
Increased insect/seed/fruit production
Brushy understory
 midstory species

46. Grassland Songbirds 1-2 year intervals Increased grass abundance
Grassy understory
 shrub species
 midstory species
Bachman’s Sparrow

47. Bobwhite Quail 1-2 year intervals; 3 year spots
Increased seeds and insects
Leave unburned areas as nesting cover
Patchy burns
Open pine stands (BA ft2/ac.)

48. Wild Turkeys 3 year intervals Increased insect/seed
Increased fruit abundance
Maintains brushy & grassy ground cover
Keeps forest open

49. White-tailed Deer 3-5 year intervals
Increased crude protein and phosphorus for 1 year
New growth palatable
Increased soft and hard mast production
Dense understory growth

50. Herbicides Replace Fire
Industry choosing herbicides
Liability, tree damage, and bark char
Herbicides give better hardwood control
Fire has additional benefits
litter removal/seedbed preparation
herbaceous plant diversity
nutrient transfer into soil

51. Herbicides & Wildlife Partridge Pea Water soluble & not fat soluble
Short term effects (<2 years)
Minimize tank mixes
Arsenal promotes legumes/blackberries
Arsenal+Escort promotes little
Partridge Pea

52. Herbicides Banded or spot application during site prep
Mid-rotation use of herbicides
Thin  herbicide  burn
Used to control invasives, create snags, promote desirables, manage edges

53. Riparian Corridors High plant and food (Insects and acorns) diversity
Natural travel corridors
Sources of standing water
herp breeding areas
Abundant dead wood
High wildlife diversity

54. Management in SMZs Emphasize Desirable Hardwoods
oaks, ash, poplar
Longer rotations (> 60 yrs)
Group selection
Maximize SMZ width

55. SMZ width Follow contour/normal floodplain
 90 ft. wildlife - < 30 ft. streams
 180 ft. wildlife - > 30 ft. streams
 300 ft. specialized wildlife
 1000 ft. large rivers

56. Snags Woodpeckers Secondary Users Roosting Feeding on insects
Hibernating

57. *% Snags Standing Snag Age (Years) 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lob Pine 100 64 37 20
Short Pine 42 24 13
Red Oaks 73 34 23 14
White Oaks 66 51 28 19
Y. Poplar 75 57 36
Snags w Cav. 7 8 35
*From Moorman et al. FEM 118:37-48

58. Snag Management SE short rotation pines have few usable snags
Retain  4 snags or green trees/acre
Softwoods preferred
Clumped and >12“ dbh
Periodically inject residuals

59. Clumping snags Buffer snags Support your neighbor Increased safety
Easier management
Distribute the clumps

60. Dead Wood Windrows, slashpiles, treetops
cover, nesting sites, and germination sites
Fallen or residual downed logs
fungi and phosphorus
insects, cover, and nutrient cycling

61. Downed Logs Important habitat for salamanders, toads, insects
Larger logs important for ruffed grouse drumming sites
Northern red salamander
Ring-necked snake

62. Vary What You Do!! Be creative, keep records and experiment
Different stand shapes & sizes
Different stand treatments
site prep, intermediate treatments, rotation lengths, disking regimes
FIRE, FIRE, FIRE, FIRE, FIRE