Terrestrial Ecology Exam 2

Identify this bird and its habitat

Bachman’s Sparrow

Southeastern Pine Savanna

Identify this bird and its habitat

Loggerhead Shrike

Southeastern Pine Savanna

Identify this bird and its habitat

Henslow’s Sparrow

Southeastern Pine Savanna

Identify this bird and its habitat

Dickcissel

Tallgrass Prairie 

Identify this bird and its habitat

Upland Sandpiper

Tallgrass Prairie

Identify this bird and its habitat

Grasshopper Sparrow

Tallgrass Prairie

Identify this bird and its habitat

Mountain Plover

Shortgrass Prairie

Identify this bird and its habitat

Lark Bunting

Shortgrass Prairie

Identify this bird and its habitat

Chestnut-collared Longspur

Shortgrass Prairie

Identify this bird and its habitat

Horned Lark

Desert Grasslands

Identify this bird and its habitat

Sprague’s Pipit

Desert Grasslands

Identify this bird and its habitat

Vesper Sparrow

Northeastern Grassland

Identify this bird and its habitat

Eastern Meadowlark

Northeastern Grasslands

Identify this bird and its habitat

Short-eared Owl

Northeastern Grasslands

Identify this bird and its habitat

Prairie Warbler - Nests within 10ft of the ground, 3-5 eggs per brood 2 broods per year

Albany Pine Bush

Identify this toad and its habitat

Eastern Spadefoot - Hardened projections on back feet for digging,

Albany Pine Bush

Identify this snake and its habitat

Eastern hognose snake - burrows in the sand using snout, defensive displays similar to a cobra

Albany Pine Bush

Define the following terms

fossorial, girdling, drill and fill, fuel moisture stick, ladder fuels, hemicryptophytes 

fossorial - lives mostly underground (possibly months at a time)

girdling - cut a circle through the cork cambium to kill trees

drill and fill - drill hole in living tree and fill with herbicide

fuel moisture stick - used to assess fire risks by predicting moisture content of surrounding fuel loads

ladder fuels - small trees, shrubs branches resulting in a fire reaching the canopy

hemicryptophytes - perennial plants with overwintering buds located in soil surface

evanescent branches - self pruning lower branches reducing ladder fuel

benefits of prescribed burns and examples of pyrogenic regions

pyrogenic ecosystems are naturally driven by fire and require it, controls shrubs in grasslands, recycles nutrients

African savannas/grasslands, SW Australian shrublands, USA prairies/grasslands/chaparral/southern pine forests/western coniferous forests

Badlands national park, chief mountain, yellowstone

what are some management practices used in the Albany pine bush

native tree removal (girdling, drill and fill, cut and chip)

controlled burns

primary causes of fires

lightning

people

spontaneous combustion

volcanic activity

conditions necessary for a natural fire and the fire triangle

accumulated organic matter (leaf litter, woody debris, shrubs), dry weather (typically mid-summer to fall), source of ignition

oxygen, heat, fuel

humans fire impacts

Native Americans - create open sites, maintain soft and hard mast production, enhance game species habitat

European settlers - logging results in large amounts of slash/fuel causing massive fires (Adirondack 500,000 acre fire)

fire classes

surface fire - cooler, faster, least destructive

ground fire - intense fire consuming soil, very destructive and hard to control

crown fire- fire reaching canopy

negative effects of fire

organic matter in soil can be lost

water holding ability reduced

fungi count decreases

aesthetic damage

habitat degradation

archeological site damage

loss of property and lives

fire adaptations of sequoia 

thick bark

self pruning lower branches

rapid sapling growth

early cone production

seed viable in soil for long periods and mostly through fire

fire related jobs

typically with the Bureau of Land Management or USFS

fire crews - do other work until fire

hot shot crews - about 20 members

smoke jumper - specialize in very remote wildlife fires, jump out of plane into/nearby remote fire

What is the leading cause for songbird decline? give examples

Caused by a loss of habitat

Conversion of vegetation types

Now agricultural land a large component in songbird habitat

who started the breeding bird survey. when and why

initiated in 1966 by Chandler Robbins coordinated by USGS, Wildlife research center and national wildlife service

used to track and estimate changes in songbird populations

stop every .5 miles and count birds in a .25 mile radius for 3 min (typically conducted in june during morning hours)

grassland types

southeastern pine savanna - pyrogenic, burn intervals of 1-3 years (bunchgrass)

tallgrass prairie - pyrogenic, grazing and drought (bunchgrass)

shortgrass prairie - drought, grazing, between tall and shortgrass prairie (sod formers)

northern plains - drought, grazing, fire, heterogeneous variation (both)

desert grasslands - drought, grazing, pyrogenic (both)

northeastern grasslands - disturbances such as fire, ice, wind, disease, insects, beavers, humans (mostly sod formers, some bunchgrass)

types of grass

bunchgrass - distinct cluster of stems (orchard grass, bluebunch wheatgrass, timothy)

sod-formers - dense mat of stems (buffalo grass. bermuda grass, johnson grass)

more definitions 

succession, primary succession, secondary succession, climax community, subclimax, sere

succession - predictable sequential appearance of species through time following disturbance or colonization of vacant area

primary succession - development of a community where one did not previously exist

secondary succession - development where existing vegetation was destroyed 

climax community - relatively stable self perpetuating long lasting community

subclimax - any of the stages before climax

sere - collective sequence of successional stages

list some animal and plant species that are likely to occur throughout the stages of succession

Early - quaking aspen, black locust, gray birch / grasshopper sparrow, meadow mouse, meadowlark

middle - red maple, white pine, black cherry / towhee, purple finch, robin, ruffed grouse

late - hemlock, sugar maple, american beech / veery, red fox, red squirrel

impacts of wildlife on succession

bird dispersal of seeds, deer browse