lectures 5-8 (forest history, abiotic factors, intro to wildlife)

Native American period

11,000 BC to 1600 AD

No private property

Prescribed fire for clearing, cultivation, hunting

• Spiritual connection to land and resources

• Sparse populations

Colonial Settlement (1600-1870)

Intense clearing for ag, to build infrastructure & settlements

• Population expands dramatically

Era of preservation

Fear of timber shortages

Gov’t starts to address forest + enviro issues

Era of conservation

Setting aside resources for future use and managing them efficiently and scientifically

Forest protection against wildfire

Era of environmentalism

Public concerns over enviro health

• Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring

• More science- based, ecosystem management

Wood

Europeans had a hunger for _____+ sent ships back FULL of them

Broad arrow policy

Kings arrow blazed on white pine trees to reserve for ship masts

George Perkins Marsh

congressman from vermont

First documentation of abuse of forest landscape

Bernhard Fernow

German, first professional forester

Yellowstone

First national park

Vanderbilt Estates

First forestry school, on the..

Transfer Act

_____ ___of 1905 transfers management of forest reserves to the Bureau of Forestry. Name of the agency is now the Forest Service.

National Forests

Congress renamed Forest Reserves “____ ____”, forbids their further creation or enlargement. Before Roosevelt signs it into law, Pinchot identifies 16 million acres of forest to be designated national forests

The Weeks Act

authorized the Secretary of Ag to purchase cutover forested lands for flood and fire control. Led to the expansion of National Forests in Eastern US

Civilian Conservation Corps

1933. Est to provide work for unemployed youth and to conserve natural resources. Replanted the forests in Mohican!

12

By 1949, Ohio had __% forest cover (now ~33%)

Fire suppression policies consequences

Disappearing ecosystems, larger fires

1988 Yellowstone Wildfires

NPS and USFS policies allowed the use of lightning-caused fires to exist with management. But the fires burned 793,880 acres, putting all of this in jeopardy

Northwest Forest Plan

Protect owls and other species dependent on old growth forests. Less logging, less jobs

South

NFP shifted wood demand to the…

National Fire Plan

Policy for fire suppression and use in mgmt. Previously all agencies approached fire differently

Today’s Era of Environmentalism

more holistic and ecological approach to forest management for multiple uses

Abiotic

Non-living factor (soil, wind, fire, etc)

Midday

Greater amounts of energy received during the ____ hours

Sunflecks

Spots of sunlight peeking thru story/canopy. Varies by species composition, time of day, etc.

Understory vegetation, seedlings

Sunflecks important for…

Lower (blue, red)

Rate of photosynthesis greatest at _____ wavelengths

Elevation

Tends to produce colder temps

Blanket

Canopy density acts like a ….

Is NOT

Within a forest, there … a wide range of temps

Warmer

Greater productivity and biodiversity in ____ climates

Shorter

Colder climates have ____ growing seasons

Precipitation

______ also influences ecosystem productivity

North-facing slopes

Are cooler (less sun), more moist

Upper slopes

Drier, more shallow soils

Lower slopes

Wetter, deeper soils

Southern slopes

Warmer temps, drier conditions, more sunlight

Northern slopes

Cooler temps, wetter conditions, less sunlight

Hotter

South And upper slope has _____ fires

Fires more often in fall

Bc fuels are drier and leaves create more oxygen

Soil factors

1) Soil depth

2) Soil drainage

3) Soil texture

4) Soil origin

Soil depth

affects rooting depth, and subsequently tree species

Soil drainage

affects moisture availability and rooting depth

Soil texture

affects moisture availability and retention

Soil origin

determines nutrient make-up, and subsequently species composition

Higher water table

Limits rooting depth

Timber line

Can’t support trees

3

Temp of atmosphere drops _ degrees F every 1000 ft in elevation rise

Wind critical role

• Disturbance process

• Disperses seed

• Disperses organic material

• Influences sunflecks

Dead woody debris

Wind helps place …. on forest floor

DWD benefits

• nutrient storage and recycling,

• wildlife habitat,

• nurse logs, and

• symbiosis (nitrogen fixation).

SILVICS

characteristics of tree species that define their life history, growth, response to its environment, and ecology.

SILVICS interactions

Soil, lights moisture, nutrients, flowering/seed production, topographic position, reaction to competition, growth rates, susceptibility to disease

SILVICS example

Red maple vs Bur oak

Red maple has shallow roots and can tolerate a wider range of soils

Bur oak has deep root systems and cannot tolerate shallow soils

SILVICS examines

- Climate

- Soils + topography

- Flowering and fruiting

- Seed production and dissemination

- Growth and yield

- Reaction to competition

- Rooting habit

Wildlife

“undomesticated free-ranging vertebrates – birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians…”

Deer (livestock)

Ohio does not consider ___ wildlife

ESA

Broadened wildlife def to include all animals

Effective bc it protects animals and by extension, their habitat

Native wildlife

Any species of animal kingdom indigenous to this state (ORC) - species was here when Europeans arrived

Natural habitat

Means the environment in which a species exists as a natural population (ORC)

Burmese python

Highly invasive, exotic, and naturalized

House sparrow

Exotic and naturalized, but not invasive bc they don’t invade natural habitats

Feral cats

Exotic, can be invasive, NOT naturalized bc they’re still dependent on humans

Game

Includes game birds, game quadrupeds, and furbearing animals (even if not hunted anymore)

Introduced but managed

Pheasants and partridge

Federal

Birds regulated at ___ level

Non game birds

All other wild birds not included and defined as game birds or migratory birds

Non game mammals

Moles, shrews, etc. Have no definition

10%

…of North American wildlife species are game

Game

Most of the funds generated thru wildlife programs (ex. Hunting licenses) go to ___ species

Importance of game

Cougars no longer hunted, thus no money for research. How many are there? Unknown

Wildlife mgmt

Effort directed towards wild animals

Relationship of habitat w/ those wild animals

Manipulation of habitats or populations done to meet some human goal

Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Wildlife

Agencies that conserve natural resources for the good of humans

NPS lens

Whenever possible, natural processes are relied upon to maintain native plant and animal species

Park belongs to the ecosystem, thus must protect ecosystem

Ecology

Relationships between organisms and the abiotic and biotic environment around them

Monitoring populations

Size, growth, survival, reproductive process, immigration

2 approaches to managing populations

Custodial and Manipulative

Custodial

preventative or protective in order to allow ecological processes to determine dynamics of the system (like NPS)

ManipulatiION

Direct - Pop size directly managed. Ex. hunting, captive breeding

Indirect - Alter resources/habitat. Ex. Prescribed burns to create habitat for those woodpeckers

Wildlife population decline

52%

Wildlife primary threats

• Habitat loss

• Disease

• Exotic and invasive species

• Decline in hunting as recreation

• Climate change

• Human-wildlife conflict

• Illegal wildlife markets

US habitat loss

Mainly Great Plains, PNW old growth forests, Sacramento Valley

Water mgmt issues

- Upstream & downstream habitat loss

– Loss of sediment transfer

– Habitat fragmentation

Agricultural impact

Strain on landscape

GMO crops limit marginal habitats/habitat Refugio

Positive examples

Birds and coffee

Rice and water birds

Bottom-up

Invasive plants work…

Mechanical control

Removing invasive plants, trapping wild boars

Biological control

Very difficult bc we don’t know how they’ll respond, so rarely done

Mongoose introduced to Hawaii to control rats (didn’t work, instead affected birds)

Eradication

Most popular method on island populations

Profit

In the US, you cannot _____ off of hunting

Photography

Wildlife ____ on the rise (provides no financial benefit like hunting)

Long distance migratory birds, bats

Drastic declines in populations of

White nose syndrome (pathogen)

Why are bats in decline?

Amphibian challenges

Pollution, habitat loss, invasive species, disease

Indigenous hunting customs

Game laws originated from …

Doctrine of conservation

Integrated systems, public responsibility, public trust, science

Pioneer skills

TR promoted hunting and fishing as the means to prevent loss of…

Wise use

Conservation tied to the concept of

Wolves return to California

Example of new paradigm

First in 2012, pack detected in 2015

American game policy

expand public ownership, private landowners as custodians, train people, hunters and scientists as partners, tax hunters for game production