Forests and Wildlife

1
Forests and Wildlife

• Animals, vegetation, and nutrients
• Moose on Isle Royale
• Browsing and vegetation
• Nutrient impacts
• Predators, prey, and vegetation
• Deer in PA
• Logging History
• Deer browse
• Forest regeneration
• Insects and forests
• Nutrient losses
• productivity

"The Deer Trackers" by Jack Paluh
2
Isle Royale National Park
http//www.nps.gov/isro/
3
Forest Types of ISRO
http//www.isleroyalewolf.org/overview_of_research
.htm
4
Moose Major Consumer of ISRO
http//www.isleroyalewolf.org/overview_of_research
.htm
5
Moose Browsing Balsam Fir
http//www.isleroyalewolf.org/overview_of_research
.htm
6
Moose Browsing Exclosure
http//www.isleroyalewolf.org/overview_of_research
.htm
7
Moose biogeochemistry

• o        Herbivores gt eat preferred plants  
•  
• eat favored species (hardswoods, balsam fir) 
• leave spruce
•  
• o        Spruce
•          adapted to low nutrient conditions
• long-lived needles
•          more defenses/structural tannin,
  phenolics, lignins
•          ? low decomposition
•  
• o        Hardwoods
•          annual leaf turnover
•          lower defense compound amount
•          higher nutrient content
•  
• o        Change in vegetation from rapidly
  cycling to slowly cycling
•          poorer quality litter

8
Predators, prey, and forest protection
9
Deer Major Consumer of Allegheny National Forest
http//www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/allegheny/
10
Allegheny National Forest, Pennsylvania
http//www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/allegheny/
11
Deer in Allegheny National Forest Statistics
Figure 1. Deer density and forage production,
Allegheny National Forest, Pennsylvania,
1900-1994 (Redding 1995)
http//www.arec.umd.edu/Policycenter/Deer-Manageme
nt-in-Maryland/decalesta.htm
12
Assessing Ecological Impact of Deer Tree Species
Table 1 Compositional shifts in dominant tree
species induced by deer browsing in boreal and
temperate forests
http//arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.11
46/annurev.ecolsys.35.021103.105725
13
Deer density and species richness
Figure 2. Relationship between deer density and
species richness and height of seedlings
http//www.arec.umd.edu/Policycenter/Deer-Manageme
nt-in-Maryland/decalesta.htm
14
Deer density and species richness
Figure 4. Relationship between deer density and
species richness and abundance of wildflowers  
http//www.arec.umd.edu/Policycenter/Deer-Manageme
nt-in-Maryland/decalesta.htm
15
Buck harvest
Figure 5. Buck Harvest, Allegheny National
Forest, 1920-1995
http//www.arec.umd.edu/Policycenter/Deer-Manageme
nt-in-Maryland/decalesta.htm
16
Assessing Ecological Impact of Deer
Figure 2 Three hypothetical relationships between
the abundance of a forage plant and deer browsing
pressure. (a) Deer have only modest and monotonic
effects on the population. (b) A reversible
threshold exists beyond which plant abundance
drops precipitously. (c) Browsing beyond a
certain threshold point causes a nonlinear
decline that is not simply reversible. The plant
population requires a large (or prolonged)
reduction in browsing as well as a disturbance
factor that promotes an increase of its abundance
to recover. This requirement indicates an
"alternate stable state." Arrows indicate dynamic
changes at various points. Modified from Scheffer
et al. (2001).
http//arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.11
46/annurev.ecolsys.35.021103.105725
17
Deer Management Plan (2003)
http//www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a465
q151378
18
Deer Management Plan Aerial Surveys
Aerial Survey Effort to Gauge Deer Populations in
State Forests
In an effort to obtain accurate statistics on
white-tailed deer populations, an infrared
camera-equipped plane has begun flying over
250,000 acres of state forestland. The areas to
be surveyed are indicated on the map below. Areas
targeted include the Pennsylvania Game
Commission's doe and fawn mortality study areas,
as well as portions of the state forestland
enrolled in its Deer Management Assistance
Program (DMAP).
http//www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/deer/deersurv
ey.aspx
19
Deer Management Plan- Harvest Estimates
Figure 1. Statewide deer harvest estimates for
Pennsylvania from 1999 to 2004, Pennsylvania Game
Commission.
http//www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/deer/deerplan
.aspx
20
Deer Management Plan Eased Hunting Restrictions
State Forest Roads Opened for Deer Hunting Season
(2004)
Hunters will now have access to nearly 6,000
miles of roadway open to the public in the
state's 20 forest districts. Many of these roads
will be open only during deer season at the
discretion of the district forester.
http//www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/deer/huntinga
ccess.aspx
21
Solutions
http//gastiresoil.blogsome.com/category/hunting/
22
Plant Defenses to Insects
http//www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pidS1677-04202002
000200001scriptsci_arttexttlngen
23
Effects of Defoliation on Nitrogen Content -
Gypsy Moths and Oak
http//plantbio.berkeley.edu/bruns/espm134/Lovett
.pdf
24
Effects of Defoliation on Nutrient Cycling
http//plantbio.berkeley.edu/bruns/espm134/Lovett
.pdf
25
Coweeta Hydrologic Experimental Forest, NC
http//www.srs.fs.usda.gov/units/experimental_fore
st.htm
26
Fall Cankerworm (Alsophila pometaria)
larvae
Adult female
Adult male
http//www.ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/fallc
ankerworm.htm
27
Coweeta HEF Insect Defoliation Enhances
Nitrogen Exports
http//cwt33.ecology.uga.edu/publications/445.pdf
28
Defoliators The White Pine Weevil (Pissodes
strobi)
http//www.treehelp.com/trees/pine/pine-white-pine
-weevil.asp
29
Asian Longhorned Beetle (Anoplophora
glabripennis)
The ALB, native to China, Korea and Japan, bores
into healthy hardwood trees (e.g. sugar maple)
and feeds on living tree tissue during the larval
stage. Later, throughout the summer, adult
beetles emerge from exit holes and briefly feed
on the leaves and small twigs of host trees.
http//www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/news/2005/01/albnjqu
a_ppq.html
30
Insect Damage Relation to Climate Change
http//www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/environment/clima
te_bugs.html
31
Insect Damage Relation to Climate Change
http//www.atmosphere.mpg.de/enid/0,55a304092d09/1
__Past_and_present/-_diseases_26g.html