Download Wildlife Management

PRINCIPLES OF
WILDLIFE
MANAGEMENT
Wildlife
• All wild animals that have a backbone
• Includes mammals, birds, reptiles,
amphibians, and fish
Wildlife
• Is sensitive to change and is valuable
because it indicates the quality of its
environment (weather, plants, and all other
factors that affect an animal).
• Healthy wildlife populations indicate a good
environment; few or no wildlife usually
means something is wrong.
Wildlife Management
• Defined as: The science of managing
wildlife and its habitat, including man, for
the benefit of the entire biota (all the plants
and animals in an environment).
Basic Wildlife
Management Concepts
• Must be based on biological knowledge
• Must include the management of man
• Must be designed to benefit the entire
biota
• Management means conservation (wise
use), not preservation (non-use)
Conservation vs. Preservation
• What’s the difference?
• Conservation  Wise use
• Preservation  Non use
What’s a Habitat?
• Habitat is an environment that supplies
everything wildlife needs for life, includes
the following:
– Food, Cover, Water, and Space
• When these habitat factors are in good
supply, they contribute to the well-being of
wildlife.
• If any of the habitat factors is in short
supply, it limits the number and distribution
of wildlife and is called a LIMITING FACTOR.
Limiting Factors
• Density Dependent- limiting factor that
depends on population size
• Competition, predation, disease, parasites
• Density Independent- affect all populations
in similar ways regardless of its size.
• Natural disasters, seasonal cycles, human
activities, crazy weather
Parts of a Habitat
• Food - both quantity and quality are
important
• Cover – necessary for protection during
feeding, sleeping, playing, breeding,
roosting, nesting, and traveling, etc.
• Water – includes surface water, dew, snow,
juicy vegetation. Necessary for all life!
• Space – avoid overcrowding which leads to
severe competition and population suffers.
Only a specific number of animals can live
in an area.
Habitat Arrangement
– E=Edge
F
Edge
C
Edge
Edge
Edge
Edge
• The arrangement of food, cover, and
water in an area determines wildlife
numbers and their distribution.
• Best  when habitat factors occur in
combinations of small blocks that are
close together
C
F
C
– F=Food
Edge
– C=Cover
F
Edge
C
F
Wildlife = Edge
• Wildlife is described as an edge
species because it commonly lives
along the edges – not in the centers –
of the different types of vegetation
growing in an area.
• This tendency for wildlife to
concentrate between 2 or more types of
vegetation is called the edge effect.
East Fork of Salmon River
Good or Bad?
Carrying Capacity
• Defined as: the number of each wildlife
species a habitat can support throughout
the year without damage to the animals or
the habitat
• The goal of wildlife management is to
control the number of animals at or below
carrying capacity so no damage is done to
the animals or their habitat
• If wildlife numbers exceed the carrying
capacity of the habitat, the excess animals
die from starvation or other causes.
Population Dynamics
• Factors affecting the growth and
decline of wildlife populations
• Affected mainly by the birth rate and
the death rate
• Birth rate and death rate are high for
most wildlife species.
Birth Rate
• Smaller species have higher birth rate
than larger species
• Affected by:
– Number of young per birth
– Number of births per year
– Age at which breeding begins
Death Rate
• Smaller species have higher death rate
than larger species
• Affected by:
– Starvation
– Hunting
– Climate – severe weather can reduce #s
– Predation
– Disease and parasites
Birth rate vs. Death rate
• If the birth rate is greater than the death
rate, wildlife numbers increase.
• If the death rate is greater than the birth
rate, wildlife numbers decrease.
• When the birth rate and death rates are
equal, population numbers do not
change.
R/K Selection Theory
• relates to the selection of combinations of traits
in an organism that trade off between quantity
and quality of offspring. The focus upon either
increased quantity of offspring at the expense of
individual parental investment, or reduced
quantity of offspring with a corresponding
increased parental investment, varies widely,
seemingly to promote success in particular
environments.
R Strategists
• r-selected species are those that place an
emphasis on a high growth rate, and,
typically exploit less-crowded ecological
niches, and produce many offspring, each
of which has a relatively low probability of
surviving to adulthood
• Examples???
K Strategists
• K-selected species display traits
associated with living at densities close to
carrying capacity, and typically are strong
competitors in such crowded niches that
invest more heavily in fewer offspring,
each of which has a relatively high
probability of surviving to adulthood
• Examples????
History of Wildlife Management
• Wildlife ownership has changed over
time
• All wildlife belonged to Great Khan in
early Asia
• European system says each landowner
owns the wildlife on his land
• American system says wildlife belongs
to all people
Era of Abundance (until 1850)
• Most native wildlife was abundant in
America
• Not many people
• Not much damage to habitat
• Little worry about supply
• Many people thought that wildlife
populations could last forever
Era of Exploitation (1850 to 1900)
• Human population was increasing
• Depletion and destruction of wildlife
and its habitat
• Unregulated hunting decreases some
wildlife populations
• Man’s activities (grazing, logging,
draining land for farming) damaged
habitat, decreasing wildlife populations
Era of Preservation (1900 to
1935)
• People wanted to return to wildlife
abundance
• Strict laws on wildlife harvest
• Predator control
• Stocking (raising animals under
artificial conditions and releasing them
into the wild)
• Introduction of exotic species
• Refuges (protected areas) established
Era of Preservation (cont’d)
• Lacey Act of 1900 regulated
interstate shipment of illegally killed
game
• US Fish and Wildlife Service was
created in 1905
• Migratory Bird Conservation Act
signed with Canada and Mexico
• Efforts paid off and wildlife
populations increased due to
improvements in habitat.
Era of Habitat and Harvest
(1935 to 1965)
• Habitat was recognized as an important
factor for wildlife
• Biologists believed wildlife could
successfully exist if enough food, water,
cover, and space were available
• Cooperative Wildlife Research Units were
set up to gain more knowledge of wildlife
and its habitat needs
• Pittman Robertson Act of 1937 taxed
sporting arms and ammunition, with
revenue going to research & habitat
purchase
Era of Habitat and Harvest
(cont’d)
• People began to understand that
habitat was the key to wildlife survival.
• They also realized that some of the
excess animals in a population could
be harvested each year without
damaging the breeding stock.
Era of People Management
(1965 to present)
• Increased awareness of wildlife
• Wildlife biologists have the knowledge
necessary to manage wildlife
populations, but may not have the
support they need to be successful.
• Management programs must consider
public emotions as well as biological
facts
Wildlife Management Tools
• Management programs must be
flexible due to wildlife population and
habitat factors changing from year to
year.
• Wildlife managers collect information
on habitat and wildlife numbers
throughout the year to determine the
type of management program needed.
Management Programs
1. Laws
• Giving total protection to a wildlife
species is a poor approach due to
being inflexible.
• Protection laws need to be flexible,
based on biological facts, and used in
combination with other management
tools to be effective.
• Flexibility is needed to correspond to
changes in habitat conditions and
wildlife populations from year to year.
Management Programs
2. Predator Control
• Predator  an animal that lives by killing
other animals for food.
• In the past, predators were considered to
be “bad” animals and bounties (money
rewards) were offered to encourage their
control.
• People thought that controlling predators
would result in more wildlife.
• When habitat is good, a healthy balance can
exist between predators and prey.
• May be necessary to protect small or
unhealthy wildlife populations
Management Programs
3. Refuges
• Refuges provide wildlife with suitable
habitat for the purpose of increasing wildlife
numbers.
• There are four general types of refuges:
– Big game – goal is to protect the breeding stock so
the population can increase
– Small game – seldom more than a few acres
– Waterfowl – most successful
– Nongame – established to protect the habitat of
rare or endangered species
Management Programs
3. Refuges (cont’d)
• Large increase in population may
exhaust food supply and damage
habitat and animals
• Effective only when correctly
used in combination with other
management tools
• The goal of a refuge is to preserve
wildlife habitat and keep it in
good condition
Management Programs
4. Stocking
• Purpose is to release wildlife into areas
that have small or no wildlife populations
• Involves releasing artificially reared
animals into the wild or trapping wild
animals from established populations and
transplanting them into other areas
• Limitations of habitat need to be
considered – if man introduces wildlife
beyond the carrying capacity, animals will
disappear
• Usually unnecessary in good wildlife
habitat
Management Programs
5. Introduction of Exotic
Wildlife
• A form of stocking
• Purpose is to introduce exotic species into habitat
similar to native habitat without displacing native
species of wildlife or damaging the habitat
• Generally not successful
• Ring-necked pheasant is a classic success story
 introduced from Hong Kong
• Chukar is another exotic successfully established
in semi-arid regions
• Muskrat and starlings are examples of
unsuccessful exotic species introduction
• Most introduced exotics find their habitats
unsuitable and disappear soon after release
Management Programs
6. Habitat Management
• Habitat is the KEY to wildlife survival!
• Without habitat, no wildlife can survive!
• Wildlife habitat is declining at an alarming
rate mainly due to urbanization and other
uses as the human population demands
more living space, food production, etc.
• Main purpose of managing habitat is to
prevent existing wildlife habitat that is in
good condition from being destroyed or lost
• The most important thing YOU can do to
help wildlife is to prevent the loss or
destruction of habitat.
Management Programs
7. Hunting and Trapping
• Valuable management tools for helping maintain
healthy wildlife populations at or below carrying
capacity of the habitat
• With careful regulation, excess animals in a
population can be removed
• Hunting and trapping are used as management
tools to remove some excess animals in
population w/o damaging breeding stock
• Sport hunting & trapping also provide funding for
wildlife management programs – funds are used to
manage game & nongame animals
• Wildlife management programs are financed
almost entirely by sportsmen
Management Programs
8. Public Education
• Essential to gain public understanding and
acceptance of wildlife management
programs
• Example: sport hunting serves a useful
purpose in wildlife management, but some
people think hunting jeopardizes wildlife
populations
• If wildlife management programs are to
benefit wildlife, they must have public
support and funding, from both hunters and
non-hunters
Future of Wildlife
• Habitat Management is and will continue to
be the key to successful Wildlife
Management
• Some ways to help provide wildlife habitat
include:
– Do not clear wild areas to make land appear tidy
– Protect wildlife areas from livestock
– Plant food for wildlife – grains, fruit-bearing
bushes, grasses, legumes
– Build brush piles or establish woody thickets to
provide cover
– Create a pond or other wetland area – willows &
cattails make good wildlife habitat
Summary
1. Wildlife management is the science of
managing wildlife and its habitat, including
man, for the benefit of the entire Biota
2. Conservation is wise use; preservation is
nonuse
3. Habitat is the key to wildlife survival
4. Carrying capacity is the number of animals
the habitat can support throughout the
year without damage to the animals or the
habitat
Summary (cont’d)
5. If wildlife numbers exceed the carrying
capacity, the excess animals will die
6. The birth and death rates of most species
of wildlife are high
7. Inflexible laws prevent effective wildlife
management
8. Wildlife biologists have the knowledge and
skills necessary to manage wildlife – all
they need is public support
Everyone has a
responsibility to
see that wildlife
is correctly
managed.