What causes trees to die? Lightening strike, disease, insect attack, lack of light, poor growing conditions

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1 W TS Wildlife Tree School Program Outline and Activities Prepared by Lisa Scott, Regional Coordinator WiTS Okanagan-Similkameen Adapted from Wildlife Trees of British Columbia (1996) written and compiled by Kerrie Post and Andrew & Carolyn MacDonald Target audience: grades 3-6 (but may be modified for younger or older audience) Notations: statement or phrase in red is key concept or question that we want to get across to students their answers are likely to vary, but the text provided gives ideas or prompts for the educator. Words in bold may need to be clarified to students depending on their grade level and background information provided by the teacher. Brief introduction. What is a biologist? Person who studies plants and animals, as well as non-living things, and how they interact and are interrelated Ask who has visited the park before and discuss why it is so special, why their class travelled to this site. What is a wildlife tree? Standing dead or dying tree that has special characteristics that provide habitat for wildlife Can be deciduous (e.g. cottonwood) or coniferous (e.g. Ponderosa pine) Can be found in all forested areas of BC and all parts of the world Wildlife use these trees for food, shelter, nesting, denning, cover and perch sites Dead or decaying trees provide important nutrients back to the soil What causes trees to die? Lightening strike, disease, insect attack, lack of light, poor growing conditions Why are wildlife trees important? Over 90 different plants and animals in BC s forests need them for habitat What are some of these animals/plants? Animals: bats, bears, birds (owls & other birds of prey, woodpeckers, herons, wood duck), insects (ants, termites, mourning cloak butterfly), flying squirrels, chipmunks Plants: moss, lichen, fungi (as wildlife trees fall to the ground and become woody debris, they provide nutrients to the soil and surrounding plant communities) Wildlife tree users can be divided into 7 different groups: 1. Primary cavity nesters (flicker) 2. Secondary cavity nesters (owl, wood duck) 3. Open nesters (eagle, osprey) 4. Mammals (bats, squirrels) 5. [Amphibians but not in the Okanagan] 6. Insects (ants, beetles) 7. Plants, moss, lichen, fungi ACTIVITY #1: Who Lives in My Neighbourhood. Have students brainstorm list of animals/plants that use wildlife trees in our region. Write these down on a large sheet or flip chart. Attempt to group into categories. ACTIVITY #2: Wildlife Tree Scavenger Hunt (refer to pages 2-4) ACTIVITY #3: Wildlife Tree Food Web (refer to pages 5-6) Eco-Studies Program Wrap-up session: Wildlife trees play an important role. by providing habitat for wildlife, plants (re-visit key concepts) Wildlife trees are valued. they contribute to biodiversity, provide habitat throughout their life cycle Wildlife trees are at risk. their loss is a major concern (firewood cutting, human safety concerns) ACTIVITY #4: Brainstorm how students can make a difference; what actions can students take. Younger students may need some prompting, so connect to camping (e.g. cutting trees down for firewood, they can educate their parents) or feeling safe at their local park or playground (e.g. ensuring a qualified wildlife/danger tree assessor makes the decision as to whether a tree truly poses a danger or not.) The importance of educating a parent, sibling, friend or neighbour about something they learned is an important message to relay.! 1

2 ACTIVITY: Wildlife Tree Scavenger Hunt Grade: K-12 Skills: analysis, application, generalization, observation Duration: minutes Setting: Outdoors Objective: Students will be able to describe and observe characteristics of wildlife trees Method: Students will look for wildlife trees and signs of plants or animals that use wildlife trees for habitat during a scavenger hunt. Background: Wildlife trees provide habitat for many different animals. Wildlife trees can be found in all forest ecosystems and can be created in many different ways. Insect damage, disease, fire, lightning, lack of proper light or growing conditions are just some of the things that can cause a tree to decay. Standing dead or live trees may start decaying from the center of the tree or from the outside, in the bark. As a tree rots and decays, it becomes smaller as branches and bits of the trunk break apart and become part of the forest floor. The tree also become softer as the wood is being decomposed by bacteria, fungus, and wood boring insects. The size, species, and climate can affect the rate at which the tree decays. A large tree will decay slowly compared to a smaller tree, and a dry climate will also mean a tree will decay slower. The longer it takes for a tree to decay, the longer that tree can provide habitat for wildlife. Certain special characteristics make certain trees more valuable as wildlife trees than others, for instance, wide trunks allow plenty of room for cavity nests and shelters. Trees situated near a water source will provide another important component of an animals habitat. Primary cavity nesters such as Williamson s Sapsuckers excavate holes for nesting, as well as getting food from wildlife trees. Secondary cavity nesters such as the Western Screech- Owl will nest in abandoned cavities build by primary cavity nesters, or natural cavities formed when a trees limbs break off. Signs such as nesting cavities, feeding holes, owl pellets and insects holes are just a few indicators that the tree is in use. The objective of this activity is for students to look for some of the different characteristics of wildlife trees. Procedure: 1. Before students get into groups of two or three, go over the characteristics of wildlife trees and talk about how animals might use these types of trees for habitat. 2. Take students to an area that has some wildlife trees.! 2

3 3. Have students work together in groups of two or three. Ask the students to try finding as many items on their checklist as possible. For each item checked off on the list, ask each group to state why and how they came to their conclusions. Please make sure that the students to not remove any plants or animals the students are just to observe and check off any wildlife tree use or evidence of usage Extensions 1. Have each group of students make up a chart showing the different ways animals use wildlife trees, listing local users. 2. Have each student write a story or poem about wildlife trees or a local animal that uses them.! 3

4 Wildlife Tree Scavenger Hunt Find evidence of wildlife trees, signs of animals that use wildlife trees, and other features. Remember: DO NOT DISTURB ANYTHING A cavity that might be in use A nest of some sort A wildlife tree with a broken top A fallen log being used by wildlife Insects that could be food for birds, or signs of insects Woodpecker holes Fungi Lichen Moss growing on a log or on woody debris The sounds of a woodpecker drilling on a tree A deciduous wildlife tree A coniferous wildlife tree! 4

5 ACTIVITY: Wildlife Tree Food Web Grades: 3-8 Skills: analysis, classification, description, discussion, identification, interpretation Duration: 20-minute period Objective: Students will learn to: 1. recognize that wildlife trees are important parts within the forest food web; and 2. define and give examples of a food chain and good webs that centre around wildlife trees. Method: Students will become different components in a wildlife tree food chain. Background Information: An ecosystem in an interacting and interrelated community of living and nonliving physical and chemical things between which energy and materials are exchanged. A community includes a group of plants and animals that occur in a given habitat. An ecosystem can be as large as the ocean or a forest, or as small as an aquarium filled with plants, fish, bacteria, fungus and invertebrates. The community of plants and animals that use wildlife trees for habitat interact with nonliving things to form part of the forest ecosystem. Energy and nutrients and exchanged within any ecosystem through a series of cycles of eating or being eaten. This is called a food chain. Wildlife trees provide habitat for many different animals and plants, which are connected through food chains. There are many food chains that occur within the forest ecosystem. Food chains that revolve around wildlife tree habitats are numerous and some are interconnected. The pattern on interconnecting food chains is called a food web. Plants and animals that use wildlife trees for habitat are interrelated in a complex food web. This activity demonstrates wildlife tree food chains and food webs. Materials: String, name tags or images of wildlife tree users, flip chart or poster sized paper plus felt marker for listing wildlife tree users Procedure: 1. Previously you will have already brainstormed what plants and animals depend on wildlife trees for habitat. Refer back to this list. For older students, consider classifying the components of the wildlife tree community into producers, consumers and decomposers.! 5

6 2. Introduce food chains and have the students list some food chains that centre around wildlife tree habitat. 3. Ask or wait and see if the students recognize that some of the food chains are interconnected. Discuss and define food webs. 4. Begin with one student as the wildlife tree, and have them stand in the centre with the class gathered around in a circle or semi-circle. The student who is the wildlife tree will start by holding onto the end piece of the ball of string. 5. Assign students a name tag or image of a plant of animal that uses wildlife trees for habitat, but do this one at a time, with the students referring to the list and starting to thing about food chains. Some examples: (a) lichens grow on the tree, these are eaten by flying squirrels which are in turn eaten by owls such as Great-horned Owl; (b) wildlife tree is food for insects, these are eaten by nuthatches (which also nest in the tree), which in turn are preyed on by hawks or owls, with nestlings and eggs eaten by some woodpeckers and squirrels. (c) wildlife tree is food for insects, these are eaten by bats, which are then consumed by owls 6. The wildlife tree student will pass the ball to the first student in the food chain, and then they will continue to pass the string along, as the food chain gets longer. When all the relationships have been exhausted for one group, cut the string and start back at the tree. 7. Continue to connect the students until all the relationships have been discovered. The end result will be a large connection (web) of animals and plants that use wildlife trees for habitat. 8. Have someone cut the string in different locations, and discuss what this would mean to the other elements on either end of the food chain.! 6