Establishing and Enhancing Wildlife Food Plants: A Shortcourse for Natural Resource Professionals

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Establishing and Enhancing Wildlife Food Plants
A Shortcourse for Natural Resource Professionals
Landowners

• August 13 - 14, 2002Sponsored byClemson
  University Department of Forest ResourcesClemson
  University Cooperative Extension ServiceSouth
  Carolina Department of Natural Resources

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Topics That Well Cover . . .Today

• Wildlife Nutrition and Feeding Habits
• Geology, Soils and Wildlife Plants
• Categories of Plants
• Developing a Wildlife Planting Plan
• Experimental Results of Herbicide Work in Food
  Plots
• In-the-Field Demonstrations

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Topics That Well Cover . . .Tomorrow

• Case Study Recommendations of Establishing and
  Managing Food Plots
• Deer, Turkey, Quail, Dove Waterfowl
• Maintaining and Enhancing Native Plants
• Cost Estimations and Budgets for Wildlife
  Plantings
• Measurements of Abundance and Quality of Wildlife
  Plants
• Legal Issues Concerning Supplemental Feeding of
  Wildlife
• Commercial Production of Wildlife Plant Seeds
  Seedlings

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Why is understanding wildlife nutrition feeding
habits so important?

• Determines health (quality) abundance
• Ensures growth, reproduction survival
• Better chance of reaching genetic potential
• Understanding providing nutritional needs
  through habitat management

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3 Ways to Provide Wildlife Food . . .1. Protect
High-Valued Native Plants2. Enhance Native
Plants 3. Supplemental Plantings
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In most cases, managing existing native plants
is a more practical and cost-effective method of
enhancing wildlife habitat.
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Starvation vs. Malnutrition

• Starvation - animal dies from lack of food
• Malnutrition - animal usually survives in poor
  condition due to lack of quality food
• lower body weights, delayed maturity, lower
  reproductive rate, susceptible to
  disease/predation extreme weather
• In the Southeast, rarely starvation but poor
  habitat results in malnutrition

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Ranking of Wildlife Foods

• 1. Preferred - found more in the diet compared to
  abundance in the field, usually 1st choice.
• 2. Staple - foods eaten on a regular basis which
  meet nutritional needs, usually 2nd choice.
• 3. Emergency - foods eaten to meet short-term
  nutritional needs, usually when staple foods are
  absent.
• 4. Stuffers - foods with low nutritional value
  that are consumed because there is nothing else
  to eat.

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Nutritional Needs of Wildlife

• Protein - body growth, development maintenance
• Carbohydrates - quick source of energy
• Lipids/Fats - physiological processes stored
  energy
• Vitamins - growth vigor
• Minerals - bone tooth development
• Water - digestion, metabolism, cooling

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Nutritional Needs of WildlifeProtein

• Most essential nutrient
  to wildlife
• Often a limiting factor
• Sources
• Insects animal matter
• Concentrated in growing
  tips of stems leaves
• Seeds, beans, grains, nuts
• Legumes, nitrogen-fixing bacteria on roots
• Microbial action in ruminants

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Nutritional Needs of WildlifeProtein

• Comprised of amino acids measured in crude
  protein (CP) content of food
• Native plants average 10 CP (2-39)
• Deer require 16-17 CP for body maintenance
• gt 17 required for optimal antler growth

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Nutrient Content of Select Foods

• Dry matter () DE (kcal/kg) CP CF
  Ca
• Alfalfa 90 1800
  15.3 27.0 1.4
• Barley 87 1790
  7.6 24.0 .2
• Red Clover 88 1760
  17.3 21.8 1.3
• W.Clover 92 2024
  21.4 20.9 1.8
• Lespedeza 92 1290
  12.7 28.1 .9
• Oats 89 2000
  7.3 29.5 .3
• Ryegrass 86 2070
  7.4 26.0 .5
• Wheat 88 1870
  7.4 25.0 .2

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Nutritional Needs of WildlifeCarbohydrates

• Comprise 3/4 of dry matter in plants
• Primary source of energy for wildlife
• Sugars (glucose, lactose) non-sugars
  (cellulose, starch, hemicellulose)
• Sugars are quickly easily digested
• Non-sugar digestion is a longer process
• Cellulose cannot be digested by wildlife
• ( Only broken down by bacteria, fungi some
  protozoan)

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Nutritional Needs of WildlifeLipids Fats

• Found in both plant animal tissues
• Insoluble in water
• Source of stored energy (fat) during stress
• supplies 2.25 times the energy/kilogram as carbs
• Aids in absorption of fat soluble vitamins
• (A, D, E, K, carotene)

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Nutritional Needs of WildlifeVitamins

• Fat soluble (A, D, E, K)
• Water soluble (B complex ascorbic acid)
• Aid in growth and efficiency of metabolism
• Found in plants animals
• Usually not a limiting factor for wildlife

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Nutritional Needs of WildlifeMinerals

• Macro-elements - Ca, P, K, S, Na, Cl, Mg
• Ca for egg production, Ca P for antler growth
• Trace elements - Fe, Mn, Cu, I, Mo, Zn
• Too much can be toxic
• Important in bone tooth development

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Nutritional Needs of WildlifeMinerals

• Aid physiological processes
• Obtain through food, water, ingestion
  of soil, or grit
• Ratio of intake important
• Ca P should be 21

Salt or mineral blocks for deer? Late
spring/early summer of value on nutrient depleted
soils use fortified mineral blocks check
regulations / baiting
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Nutritional Needs of WildlifeWater

• Necessary for digestion, metabolism, cooling,
  lubrication other life processes
• Usually not a limiting factor to wildlife in the
  Southeast
• Obtained from free water (lakes, streams,
  dew on vegetation, water from food
  consumed metabolic water)
• Rainfall effects vegetation quality abundance

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Factors Affecting Wildlife Nutrition

• Availability of quality foods
• Palatability digestibility
• plant lignin content
• Rainfall temperature
• Soils
• Texture/moisture holding, clay to sand depth
• Relationship of soil fertility to wildlife health
• Time of year
• Highest nutrient level (digestibility)
  spring/fall growing seasons
• Past present land use/management activities

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Wildlife Feeding Strategies

• Generalist (white-tailed deer) - broad category
  of habitats foods eaten
• Specialist (RCW) - narrow category of habitats
  foods eaten
• Optimal foragers (most herbivores) - minimize
  energy expended maximize energy and nutrient
  intake (feeding efficiency)
• Nutritional modeling - determining nutritional
  carrying capacity to support wildlife

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Categories of Wildlife Based on Feeding Strategies

• 1. Carnivore - diet primarily animal matter
• 2. Herbivore - diet primarily vegetation/plant
  parts
• 3. Insectivore - diet mostly insects
• 4. Granivore - diet of seeds, grains
• 5. Omnivore - mixed diet of 1 2 or
  combination of all the above
• 6. Scavenger - diet of primarily carrion
• Diets determine the type of digestive system that
  has evolved to process food efficiently for
  various species of wildlife.

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Two Types of Wildlife Digestive Systems

• 1. Simple Digestive System
• Tongue, esophagus, stomach, small intestine,
  large intestine
• Foods that are easily digested
• Primarily carnivorous mammals, some omnivores
  insectivores

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Simple Digestive System

• Tongue, esophagus, stomach, small intestine,
  large intestine

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Two Types of Wildlife Digestive Systems

• 2. Modified/Complex Digestive System
• Foods that are difficult to digested
• No enzymes to break down cellulose (cellulase)
• cellulose major chemical component of plants
• largest source of energy
• Wildlife (herbivores, omnivores, granivores) have
  developed special modifications and symbiotic
  relationships with microorganisms to digest
  cellulose

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Two Types of Wildlife Digestive Systems

• 2. Modified/Complex Digestive System
• Birds
• Tongue, esophagus, crop, proventriculus, gizzard,
  small intestine, large intestine

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Two Types of Wildlife Digestive Systems

• 2. Modified/Complex Digestive System
• Rodents Small Mammals
• Large caecum enlarge large intestine for
  microbial digestion
• Break down of cellulose and complex carbohydrates
• Produces bacterial protein
• Also can ingest own feces or coprophagy (rabbits)
• increases amino acid vitamin absorption

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Rabbit Digestive System

• Caecum comprises 45 of digestive system

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Two Types of Wildlife Digestive Systems

• 2. Modified/Complex Digestive System
• Ruminants (deer)
• Most complex, 4 parts
• 1. Rumen - fermentation vat
• 2. Reticulum - nutrient absorption
• 3. Omasum - acts as a filter of digested foods
• 4. Abomasum - acid peptic digestion of
  microorganisms
• 5. Small large intestine - nutrient absorption

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Ruminant (Deer) Digestive System
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Ruminant (Deer) Digestive System
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In Summary

• To be effective, wildlife managers should
  understanding food habits and nutritional needs
  of various species.
• Most nutritional needs of wildlife can be met
  through habitat improvement practices.