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Chapter 9 Wildlife Biology and Management © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Study of Life • Biology is the study of life – Botany seeks to understand the life of plants – Zoology is the study of animal life © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Study of Life • Zoologists study the basic needs of animals – Food, water, shelter, and space • These basic needs are of equal importance • Suitable wildlife habitat requires a balance of these requirements © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Animal Behaviors and Habits • Life is the product of distinct behaviors and habits that help an organism meet basic needs – Way in which organism meets basic needs is often distinctive to it © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Animal Behaviors and Habits • Behavior is both learned and instinctive – instinctive: evident at birth – learned: behavior picked up through life experiences © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Life Requires Energy • Food – Anything organism consumes to get energy – Amount of food required depends on age, sex, size, location, season of year © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Life Requires Energy • Differences exist in ways organisms obtain nutrients – different preferred foods – different digestive systems • simple stomach, multiple stomachs, gizzard, etc. © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Food Sources • Organisms differ in types of foods consumed – Herbivores: Obtain food directly from plants – Carnivores: Consume other animals • also called predators – Omnivores: Consume both plants and other animals © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Water • Organisms differ in their relationship to a necessary resource: water – – – – – Some require standing water Some drink water Others get water from food they eat Still others absorb water from the environment Aquatic organisms actually live in water © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Shelter • All organisms have basic habitat needs – Habitat: Home where organism eats, rests, and reproduces – Must provide an organism’s basic needs • Suitable habitat provides adequate shelter – protection from weather, predators – places to reproduce © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Shelter • Shelter can take many forms – often a form of vegetation or vegetative cover – can be pile of rocks, hole, cliff overhang, etc. © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Space • All organisms have a home range – Area within which they live and obtain resources – Size of home range varies – Tolerance of others’ presence varies © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Space • In any habitat, animals must not be overcrowded – Overcrowding can result in stress, disease, damaged habitat © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Arrangement of Basic Needs • All wildlife requires – – – – food water cover space • Habitat containing these basic requirements will support life © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Arrangement of Basic Needs • Optimal populations achieved when basic needs are appropriately arranged – What if primary food supply is across a fourlane highway? © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Wildlife Relationships • Many organisms participate in many types of relationships – – – – – parasitism mutualism predation commensalism competition © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Parasitism • Relationship between two organisms in which one feeds on the other without killing it – May be plants or animals – Parasites may be either internal or external © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Parasitism • Example of a parasitic relationship – wood tick • lives on almost any species of warm-blooded animal © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Mutualism • Two types of animals living together for their mutual benefit • Example: tick pickers – birds remove and eat ticks from many African animals • Wild animals have parasites removed from them • Birds receive nourishment from ticks © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Predation • Situation in which one animal eats another – predator: does the eating – prey: gets eaten • Predators are often critical in controlling wildlife populations © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Predation • Populations of predators and prey tend to fluctuate widely – When predators are in abundance, prey becomes scarce because of overfeeding – When prey becomes scarce, predators may starve or move to other areas © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Commensalism • Situation in which plant or animal that lives in, on, or with another but does not help or harm it • Example – vultures waiting to feed on leftovers from a cougar’s kill © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Competition • When organisms contend for same food supply, cover, nesting sites, or breeding sites – Competition may exist among members of same species or between or among different species © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Competition • Competition often results in changes in population levels – One species may increase in number whereas the others decline – Often the numbers of both species decrease © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Preserving Wildlife • Various efforts have been made to protect wildlife • U.S. Endangered Species Act – passed to protect at-risk animal species and their habitats © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Preserving Wildlife • U.S. Endangered Species Act – identifies two classes of at-risk species • endangered: immediate danger of extinction • threatened: at risk of becoming endangered – Strategies include transplanting organisms, hatcheries, breeding programs © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Human Impacts on Wildlife • Humans impact wildlife in many ways – Habitat destruction is the single greatest threat facing wildlife • Habitat destruction occurs as a result of many human activities – Construction, farming, mining, timber harvesting, and pollution © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Stewardship • Wildlife and other natural resources should be managed with a long-term view and commitment to the resources – Will require knowledge of proven management practices and ecology and habitat requirements © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Stewardship • Wise stewardship occurs when managers of natural resources make management decisions based on dependable information © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Extinction • Extinction of species is serious concern • Several factors contribute to extinction – introduction of alien species that outcompete native species – overhunting by humans – lack of adaptability in a species – slow rate of reproduction © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Extinction • Destruction or modification of habitat – single greatest cause of extinction © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Managing At-Risk Species • Managing populations of endangered or threatened species is difficult – Effective management of endangered species must be based on reliable research • Managing at-risk species will involve providing acceptable shelter and food sources © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Managing At-Risk Species • Management decisions must be applied in a variety of habitats – farms, forests, wetlands, streams, lakes, and ponds © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Managing Farmlands • Management of farm wildlife often involves providing suitable habitat – usually by-product of farming or ranching practices © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Managing Farmlands • Farmland management techniques include – – – – – leaving corners of fields unharvested leaving shrubs and brush piles leaving crop residue standing through winter planting crops attractive to wildlife harvesting farm and ranch wildlife by hunting © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Managing Forests • Managing forests often focuses on increasing populations of a certain species – If species is present, the goal is to maintain its population © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Managing Forests • Management of forests often involves – – – – developing a forest-management plan making clearings to provide new growth selective harvesting to produce a variety of habitats leaving piles of brush for cover © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Managing Forests • Developing a forest-management plan – taking an inventory of species – goal setting for habitat and species within it – deciding how to support desired species © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Managing Wetlands • Most important habitat to wildlife – provide food, nesting sites, and cover for many species of wildlife • Wetland management techniques include – impounding or holding water – cutting trees to open up wetland area – leaving hollow trees for nesting © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Managing Wetlands – – – – – establishing open, grassy areas around wetlands planting vegetation for food and cover protecting from pollution providing artificial nesting areas breeding and release programs © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Managing Streams • Protecting existing is critical because we cannot build new streams • Stream management plans usually focus on fish • Management of streams often involves – preventing overgrazing of stream banks – limiting access to stream by livestock © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Managing Streams – – – – – maintaining streamside vegetation sustaining desirable species of wildlife balancing populations with food supply using hatchery and stocking programs regulating sport fishing © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Managing Lakes and Ponds • Management techniques similar to streams • Several management practices unique to standing water – controlling pollution – sustaining desired mixtures of species © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning Managing Lakes and Ponds – maintaining appropriate dissolved oxygen levels – eliminating unwanted species – stocking desired species © 2009 Delmar, Cengage Learning