Manage Your Woodlands For Songbird Habitat

Transcription

1 Manage Your Woodlands For Songbird Habitat Brad Hutnik Forest Ecologist / Silviculturist WDNR Division of Forestry Bradley.Hutnik@wi.gov John Nielsen Southern District Forestry Leader WDNR Division of Forestry John.Nielsen@wi.gov

2 Manage Your Woodlands For Songbird Habitat Outline I. How do birds fit into forest management (and vice versa)? I. Background I. Def. sustainable forestry II. Def. silviculture II. A new tool: landscape ecology III. Ecological forestry as a management model I. Management for diversity of forest types and structural diversity (i.e. II. biodiversity) Incorporating complexity into management I. Natural disturbance IV. The Upshot: Landscape Silviculture II. Management example: The Nielsen Family Property I. Forest management review II. Guidelines for forest interior songbird habitat management

3 What is Sustainable Forestry? Sustainable forestry is the practice of managing dynamic forest ecosystems to provide ecological, economic, social, and cultural benefits for present and future generations. WDNR Division of Forestry

4 What is Sustainable Forestry? Sustainable forestry practices must be based on: Compatible landowner objectives The capabilities of each site Scientifically sound silviculture Each of these factors is equally important

5 Silviculture Def. The practice of controlling forest composition, structure, and growth to maintain and enhance the forest s utility for any purpose. Though the purpose may change, the theory and tools will be essentially the same. The challenge for silviculture will be how to adapt existing tools to meet new objectives.

6 History of Forest Management and Birds An exhaustive study of the food supply of the forest birds has never been attempted, but their value in the forest seems so undisputable that all possible protection and encouragement should be given them. Unquestionably if, in addition steps be taken: to destroy the natural enemies of the birds to curb the bloodthirsty spirit of the small boy with his first gun to discourage the useless egg collecting mania of the amateur ornithologist the mutually beneficial relations which now exist between the birds and the forest will be perpetually maintained. Adirondack birds in their relation to forestry. Sterling, E. A. Journal of Forestry Volume 1, Number 1, 1 October 1902, pp (8)

7 Landscape ecology The study of landscape composition, structure and function not necessarily defined by size but rather by an interacting mosaic of elements (e.g., ecosystems) relevant to some phenomenon under consideration (at any scale).

8 Landscape Ecology If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course of eons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering. Round RiverAldo Leopold:, Oxford University Press, New York, 1993, pp Landscape ecology informs our tinkering and expands our view of cogs and wheels to include landscape pattern and process.

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10 If your primary goal is to sustain or restore habitat and wildlife populations provided by natural forest ecosystems, then Ecological Forestry is the appropriate model for your management. This achieved through silvicultural approaches that sustain / restore stand level complexity of structure and composition using natural models 1. Natural disturbance 2. Stand development processes 3. Time

11 Why emulate disturbance? Natural and cultural disturbances hold the key to understanding the forest we have today and the forests we will have in the future Disturbance tells us about the trajectory, resilience, productivity, and stability of a stand or landscape.

12 How do we assess disturbance history? Fire scars Pit and mound topography Stand and landscape age distribution Growth increment patterns Canopy structure Diameter distributions Species composition

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14 Storm Damage Spring Green, WI Timm Zumm

15 Storm Damage Iowa County, WI Timm Zumm

16 Storm Damage Iowa County, WI Timm Zumm

17 Storm Damage Sauk County, WI Timm Zumm

18 Ecological Complexity in Stands Complex Multiple species Wider size of age ranges Understory plant diversity Seed and seedling banks Abundant tree-derived structures (Downed woody debris; cavity trees) Spatial heterogeneity Simple Single species Single cohort Narrow ranges; young trees Few species Depleted Few Spatial homogeneity

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20 Incorporating Ecological Complexity into Forest Management 1. Develop and maintain large trees, cavity trees, snags, and CWD to provide structural complexity These structures can provide legacies at rotation Retention of patches can provide unique structure

21 Incorporating Ecological Complexity into Forest Management 2. Improve species diversity Create and manage gaps / groups Retain other species during intermediate treatments When establishing plantations, include other appropriate species

22 Incorporating Ecological Complexity into Forest Management 3. Apply variable density thinning (VDT) To emulate natural stand variation, apply different thinning regimes throughout the stand

23 Incorporating Ecological Complexity into Forest Management 4. Maintain an array of ecosystems across the natural range of variation. This will maintain the majority of species in a region 5. Engage in landscapescale and long-term planning to ensure that the needs of both early and late successional wildlife are met.

24 The decline in young forest habitats has been the focus of 2 recent special editions in the professional literature: Early-successional wildlife habitats have now become critically uncommon in much of the eastern United States...largely in response to forest maturation. (DeGraaf & Yamasaki 2003)

25 Young Forests Is Also Important for Forest Interior Songbirds Mature forest birds use young forest for postfledging habitat: Ovenbird (Streby and Anderson 2011) Wood Thrush (Vega Rivera et al. 1998) Swainson s Thrush (White and Faaborg 2008) Many other species (Marshall 2003, Vitz and Rodewald 2006)

26 Incorporating Ecological Complexity into Forest Management 6. Manage forests within the context of balanced age classes and forest types across the landscape A stable, desirable age class distribution provides both and even flow of products as well habitat (structural conditions) Extended rotations offer the opportunity to produce significant timber yields while also producing other social and ecological benefits.

27 Acres Is the current age class distribution balanced? Acres of Oak / Hickory by Age Class and Ownership (FIA 2011) Private County and Municipal State Other federal National Forest years 6-10 years years years years years years years years years years years 5 year Age Class years years years years years years years years years

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29 The Upshot: Landscape Silviculture Develop prescriptions for individual stands but evaluating them collectively based on objectives for the landscape as a whole A deliberate and deliberated process Learn the objectives, the rest will follow from your thoughtfulness

30 II. Forest Management Example: The Nielsen Family Tree Farm Richland County Wisconsin

31 Nielsen Family Tree Farm Purchased acres with 30 acres of crop land Typical high-graded woods No history of forest management Landowner s Objective: Manage for quality forest products while providing wildlife habitat Practice what I preach

32 Nielsen Family Tree Farm Forest Management History 1993: Developed a forest management plan and established timber appraisal and basis

33 Nielsen Family Tree Farm Forest management: Timber sales acres improvement thinning acres aspen regeneration cut acres improvement thinning acres overstory removal acres overstory removal acres walnut thinning acres improvement thinning /

34 Nielsen Family Tree Farm Forest management: Timber sales (overstory removals) acres overstory removal acres aspen regeneration cut acres overstory removal acres box-elder removal

35 Nielsen Family Tree Farm Forest management: Tree planting acres acres

36 Breeding Bird Survey completed June 2006 and June bird species breeding pairs bird species 280 breeding pairs Bird Species Acadian Flycatcher 1 6 American Crow 5 2 American Goldfinch 12 7 American Redstart American Robin 1 14 Baltimore Oriole 4 0 Barn Swallow 2 1 Black-capped Chickadee 11 6 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1 4 Brown-headed Cowbird 14 6 Blue Jay 3 6 Bobolink 2 4 Blue-winged Warbler 10 5 Cedar Waxwing 0 2 Cerulean Warbler 0 5 Chestnut Warbler 2 0 Chipping Sparrow 5 8 Common Yellowthroat 5 3 Coopers hawk 1 0 Downy Woodpecker 0 2 Eastern Meadowlark 0 1 Eastern Phoebe 1 0 Eastern Towhee 5 7 Eastern Wood-Pewee Bird Species European Starling 0 1 Field Sparrow 13 5 Gray Catbird Hairy Woodpecker 0 2 Henslow s Sparrow 4 0 Horned Lark 0 1 Hooded Warbler 0 1 House Wren 0 1 Indigo Bunting Mourning Dove 1 1 Northern Cardinal 9 6 Ovenbird 10 6 Pileated Woodpecker 1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak Red-bellied Woodpecker 5 5 Red-eyed Vireo Red-headed Woodpecker 3 0 Red-tailed Hawk 1 1 Ruby Throated Hummingbird 2 0 Savannah Sparrow 2 0 Scarlet Tanager 6 6 Sedge Wren 2 0 Song Sparrow 21 5 Tufted Titmouse 4 2 White-breasted Nuthatch 7 2 Wood Thrush 5 8 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1 1 Yellow-throated Vireo 2 5 Yellow Warbler 4 4

37 Acadian Flycatcher breeding pair breeding pair

38 Cerulean Warbler 2006 not present breeding pair

39 Hooded Warbler 2006 Not present breeding pair

40 Brown-headed Cowbird breeding pair breeding pair

41 5. It s the little things that count. Do the little things. 1. Snags and cavity trees 2. Tree retention 3. Manage for fully stocked forest. Managing Your Woodlot for Forest Interior Songbirds 1. Understand where your woodland is in the landscape. 2. Understand the effects your management choices will have on the habitat. 3. Gain a knowledge of what birds you have and could have. EXPECT CHANGE, FORESTS ARE DYNAMIC Have a survey if possible or do your own. 4. If possible reduce forest fragmentation.

42 Cavity Trees / Snags

43 Tree Retention

44 Basal area per acre (sq. ft./acre) Promote Full Stocking Quadratic Mean Diameter % % 80 80% 90% 60 60% 70% 40 40% 50% Percent Stocking 30% 20 20% Trees per acre CERW Absent CERW Present

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46 Questions