FORESTRY K2 '25 Flashcards

Primary cavity excavators

birds that dig cavities into snags for food or habitat (woodpeckers, sapsuckers)

Secondary cavity users

depend on primary excavators or natural decay for nesting

what % of birds in forest are cavity dependent

20-40%

snags make up _% of mixedwood

5-10%

give 4 benefits of snags for wildlife

• cavity nesting

• insects under wood provide food source

• perches for raptors

• bats roost under bark

Increased fragmentation decreases

small mammal populations like voles

Martens

used to be most abundant small mammal in eastern North America, now extirpated in eastern canada and threatened across their range due to habitat loss and trapping

5benefits of downed deadwood for wildlife and plants

• provides threatened American marten with habitat for natal dens, protection from predators, and subnivean (below snow) habitat during winter months

• amphibians rest there to protect from thermal drought

• increases bryophite, lichen, and moss biodiversity

• provides moist, nutrient-rich germination bed for spruces

• deadwood fallen into spreams provides critical amphibian breeding habitat

what aged forests have the most deadwood? The least? List three in order

old-growth > young > economically mature

higher species richness was observed when

fine woody debris was mixed with coarse woody debris than when it was just coarse woody debris

Coarse woody debris (CWD)

decomposing logs on the forest floor, provides nutrients for plants, habitat, food

what wildlife nests in coarse woody debris?

snowshoe hare, ruffed grouse, bobcats, black bears, lynx, shrews

beneftis of CWD on forests and carbon storage

• recycles nutrients like potassium, nitrogen, phosphorus

• holds in moisture during small droughts

• can store. and release carbon slowly in logs of rot-resistant trees

how to create CWD

• leave stumps when harvesting

• either cut dying trees and leave logs or let them stand to become snags

• allow natural disasters, fire, and disease run their course

define forest health

the ability of a forest to sustain itself while providing for society’s economic, spiritual, and social needs

define ecological processes

the interaction between organisms and their environment

list the stages of forest succession

0) fire, insect, disease, or human removes older trees and almost all vegetation and recycles nutrients

1) grasses, wildflowers, trees and shrubs

2) shade-intolerant species like trembling aspen and lodgepole pine come

3) shade-tolerant species like white spruce grow under canopy

4) climax community grows old and becomes old growth

who manages forest health in Alberta?

Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development and Forest Health Officers

give benefits of forest insect and diseases when at natural levels

kill dead and dying trees, insects provide food source for birds

Disorders

non contagious, non living elements of the environment that damage trees (hail/ice storms, drought, pollution, nutrient deficiencies, mechanical injuries)

how can mammals and birds act as forest pests?

overgrazing and harming regeneration and growth, also can create wounds for pathogens to enter

define ecosystem service

something the environment provides to people for free

trees slow the flow of water. How does this help the ecosystem?

• reduces flooding by letting some water infiltrate and slowing the rest

• reduces erosion into waterways, keeping fish gills from clogging and rock bottoms from getting mucky

• allow pollutants to settle out and absorb some pollutants directly

what makes trees especially good among plants at watershed protection

larger and more extensive root systems such that even after tree dies, roots in soil decompose and leave behind pores, increasing permeability

Name all 5 ecoregions

1) taiga plains

2) taiga shield

3) boreal plains

4) montane cordillera

5) prairie

Taiga plains key characteristics and indicator plants

• short, cool summers and cold winters

• little rain

• permafrosted soils and sedimentary rock

• fire-dominated

• paper birch, willows, aspen, black spruce, balsam fir, lodgepole and jack pine

Taiga shield key characteristics and indicator plants

• cold, long winters, mild summers

• oldest bedrock in world, very boggy, waterlogged land

• black spruce, tamarack, jack pine, alders birches willows, balsam fir, white spruce

Boreal plains key characteristics and indicator plants

• short, warm summers, cold winters. Dry

• flat with thick soil

• fire-adapted

• Jack pine, spruces, firs, tamarack, manitoba maple and water birch

• heavily loged

Prairie key characteristics and indicator plants

• hot summers, cold winters

• dry due to rainshadow

• flat fertile plains with oil deposits

• 95% converted to farmland, but existing trees are white spruce, balsam fir, lodgepole pine, aspen and poplar

• many endangered animals

Montane cordillera key characteristics and indicator plants

• milder climate

• located between rockies and coast mountains, so double rainshadow creates ombre of dry to wet

• high elevation plants and animals: lodgepole pine, engelmann spruce, ponderosa pine, western hemlock, redcedar, aspens and poplars and birches