Defining%20Wildlife%20Habitat%20

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• Defining Wildlife Habitat Recognizing Its
  Importance

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Next Generation Science/Common Core Standards
Addressed!

• HS-LS2-6. Evaluate the claims, evidence, and
  reasoning that the complex interactions in
  ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers
  and types of organisms in stable conditions, but
  changing conditions may result in a new
  ecosystem. Clarification Statement Examples of
  changes in ecosystem conditions could include
  modest biological or physical changes, such as
  moderate hunting or a seasonal flood and extreme
  changes, such as volcanic eruption or sea level
  rise.
• HS-LS2-8. Evaluate the evidence for the role of
  group behavior on individual and species chances
  to survive and reproduce. Clarification
  Statement Emphasis is on (1) distinguishing
  between group and individual behavior, (2)
  identifying evidence supporting the outcomes of
  group behavior, and (3) developing logical and
  reasonable arguments based on evidence. Examples
  of group behaviors could include flocking,
  schooling, herding, and cooperative behaviors
  such as hunting, migrating, and swarming.
• HS-LS4-6. Create or revise a simulation to test a
  solution to mitigate adverse impacts of human
  activity on biodiversity. Clarification
  Statement Emphasis is on designing solutions for
  a proposed problem related to threatened or
  endangered species, or to genetic variation of
  organisms for multiple species.

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Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resource Standards
Addressed

• NRS.01.01.02.a. Summarize the components that
  comprise all ecosystems.

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Bell Work / Objectives

• Describe and list the types of wildlife habitat.
• List habitat requirements for selected species of
  animal wildlife.
• Describe habitat mix.
• List the goals of habitat production.
• Describe selected management practices for small
  areas of habitat.

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Terms

• Biome
• Biotic pyramid
• Clear-cut
• Cover
• Desert
• Edge
• Estuary
• Featured species

• Firebreaks
• Home range
• Interspersion
• Metabolism
• Permafrost
• Savanna
• Space
• Species richness

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Terms

• Stream
• Taiga
• Territory
• Tundra
• Understory
• Vegetation management

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Various Land Areas

• What do you see in this image?
• Dry
• Wet
• Hot
• Cold
• What kind of wildlife may be found?

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What are the types of wildlife habitat?

• Habitat for animal wildlife can be classified
  based on ecosystems.
• Ecosystems are in areas known as biomes.
• Biomes are large areas with distinct combinations
  of animals and plants.
• There are five types of terrestrial biomes found
  in the United States. Four of which are found in
  NM!

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5 Types of Terrestrial Biomes

• Tropical areas near the equator.
• Areas in forest or grassland with high
  temperatures.
• Tend to have high rainfall with two seasons wet
  and dry.
• Birds, insects, frogs, and many other small
  animals occupy the tops of trees.
• Tropical grassland areas tend to have low
  rainfall but still provide habitats for small
  grasses and forbs.
• This provides good habitat for grazing animals,
  snakes, rodents, and lizards.

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5 Types of Terrestrial Biomes

• Temperate forest habitats cover much of the
  southern U.S. Both conifer and deciduous trees
  are present.
• The precipitation varies from moderate to heavy.
• Berries, acorns, fruit, and cones are produced
  for squirrel, deer, rabbit, and quail.

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5 Types of Terrestrial Biomes

• Grasslands and Savannas host the predominant
  vegetation of grass.
• The precipitation is too low to support trees.
• There are many grazing animals such as deer, elk,
  and bison, and many other small rodents,
  reptiles, and birds.
• A savanna is another name for a grassland that is
  generally used in South America.

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5 Types of Terrestrial Biomes

• Tundra and taiga are both cold climates found in
  North America.
• Tundra is in the Arctic area or at other high
  elevations and is characterized by low
  temperatures and permafrost (permanently frozen
  ground).
• Many lichens, mosses, a few shrubs, and some
  grasses grow in tundra areas.

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5 Types of Terrestrial Biomes

• Taiga areas have large conifer forests that can
  withstand low temperatures and heavy loads of
  snow.

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5 Types of Terrestrial Biomes (cont.)

• A desert is a sandy area with very dry habitat
  with little or no rain.
• Temperatures range from very hot to very cold.
• Moist areas may grow shrubs or scrub trees.

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4 Types of Aquatic Biomes

• Lakes and ponds are natural or artificial
  reservoirs of earth that usually hold freshwater.
• The water temperatures vary with the surrounding
  climate and source of the water.
• Algae, insects, and other small creatures are
  sources of food for fish, shellfish, and other
  aquatic wildlife.

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4 Types of Aquatic Biomes

• A stream is flowing water that moves from higher
  to lower elevation.
• Some of this water is from ground runoff,
  springs, or released by users.
• Creeks are small streams rivers are large
  streams.
• This is the most common aquatic biome in New
  Mexico.

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4 Types of Aquatic Biomes

• Oceans and Seas result from the flow of
  freshwater streams into their saltwater body.
• Some species prefer the mix of fresh and
  saltwater in habitats.

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4 Types of Aquatic Biomes

• Wetlands and estuaries have a big effect on land
  areas and serve as important habitats for some
  species of animal wildlife.
• Swamps and marshes are wetland area along inland
  streams.
• An estuary is the area where a stream flows into
  an ocean.
• The wildlife that live here can tolerate both
  freshwater and brackish water.

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Review
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What are habitat requirements for selected
species of animal wildlife?

• Wildlife species have life requirements that must
  be met by their habitat to insure well-being,
  regardless of the biome inhabited.
• Food
• Water
• Cover
• Space

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Life Requirements

• Food
• All living things require food.
• Food provides the nutrients needed to live, grow,
  and reproduce.
• A key component of food is energy.
• The series of transfers of food energy from one
  organism to another is called a biotic pyramid.
• The internal process by which an organism gets
  energy from food is metabolism.

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Life Requirements

• Water
• This is the basic need of life.
• Waters chemical structure is H20.
• With terrestrial habitats, water determines what
  species of plants will grow.
• These plants will determine which animals live
  there.
• In aquatic habitats, there are damaging
  pollutants such as siltation, sewage, etc. that
  will affect life.
• Some wildlife get most of their water through the
  food that they eat, while many need a watering
  area for drinking once or twice a day.

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Life Requirements

• Cover
• This is needed for most wildlife species, and is
  sometimes referred to as shelter.
• Cover is the vegetation or other material that
  provides safety in a habitat.
• Animals use cover for nesting, resting, and
  protection from predators and adverse weather.

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Life Requirements

• Space
• Space provides air, food, and cover for wildlife
  species.
• Space is the area around an organism.
• The requirements vary with season, animal, and
  quality of the habitat.
• The space an animal normally uses for living is
  called home range. It is where the animal gets
  food, water, and cover. For example the home
  range of a cougar in NM may exceed fifty square
  mile.
• Within a home range, and individual animal may
  establish a territory (area smaller that the
  home range).

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What is habitat mix?

• Many animal wildlife species require more than
  one stage of succession in their habitat.
• Two stages
• Interspersion
• Edge

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Interspersion

• Interspersion is mixing lots of different stages
  within an area.
• The best way of measuring the amount of
  interspersion is to use the interspersion index
  principle.

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Interspersion

• This involves counting the number of times a
  habitat changes from east to west and north to
  south in aerial photographs.
• Without dispersal areas, animals have limited
  access.

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Edge

• Edge is the area where two habitats meet.
• It is also known as ecotone.
• Habitats with a large amount of edge provide more
  food, water, and cover for a variety of species
  than areas of the same vegetation type.

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Edge

• Edge quality is measured by the transition that
  occurs.
• Edges with high contrast have more species of
  animal wildlife than those with low contrast.

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What are the goals of habitat production?

• Habitat management influences the kinds and
  diversity of species attracted to the area.
• Two main goals
• Provide a habitat for a specific wildlife
  species.
• Provide habitats for many different wildlife
  species.

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Two Main Goals

• To Provide a habitat for a specific wildlife
  species.
• Most habitat is managed for a featured species or
  for species richness.
• Featured species species that will be promoted
  through improved habitat.

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Featured Species is Whitetail Deer

• Establishment of food plots to control feeding
  areas for deer are common. Especially when
  hunting will be used as a management tool. This
  would be a form of edge management. This is an
  example of a year round management plot.

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Two Main Goals

• When managing a habitat for a featured species,
  it is important to manage a habitat to provide
  for the needs that are in shortest supply.
• This may be water, food, or cover.
• In selecting habitat management practices, the
  effects of practices on species other than the
  featured species must be studied.
• In New Mexico water is the most common management
  tool for wildlife.

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Two Main Goals

• To provide habitats for many different wildlife
  species.
• Species richness is the number of different
  species found in an area.

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Two Main Goals

• The following are a part of the wildlife
  management plan to promote species richness a
  mixture of successional stages is present
  unbroken block sizes are of 10 to 40 acres the
  edges have high contrast and a wide variety of
  vegetation layers is present within each area
  containing only one successional stage.

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Two Main Goals

• When managing habitat for species richness, the
  goal is to provide some habitat for as many
  species as possible.

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What are some selected management practices for
small areas of habitat?

• There are several practices used in managing
  habitats for wildlife.
• The major practices include
• Vegetation Management
• Seeding
• Water Sources
• Fire
• Fertilizer
• Site Preservation

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Vegetation Management

• Vegetation management is using practices that
  promote the growth of desired plant species.
• This can involve removing understory to promote
  habitat for large animals.
• Understory - vegetation that grows beneath trees
  in a woodland.
• In NM as in other areas it may mean removal of
  invasive plant species such as cactus, yucca,
  creosote or mesquite.

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Vegetation Management

• Creating clearings is done by clear-cutting small
  areas within thickly-wooded areas to attract deer
  and elk.
• Clear-cut means that all the trees in an area are
  cut.

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Vegetation Management

• Thinning an area is done by selectively removing
  some of the trees in a wooded area.
• This create holes in the tree canopy and allows
  more room for smaller trees to grow and improves
  edge quality.

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Seeding

• Establishing food plots by seeding promotes
  wildlife populations into an area.
• Seeding is used to increase the plant population.
• Using species preferred food helps target desired
  populations into an area.
• Some common plants used in seeding include
  grasses, forbs, and trees.

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Water Sources

• Water is necessary in order to live.
• Ponds, streams, and even lakes are good sources
  of water for many types of wildlife animals.
• In NM livestock water tanks are a very important
  source of wildlife water. Water is pumped by
  windmills, solar pumps and motors. Earthen tanks
  filled by runoff are also very important sources
  of water.
• It is important to keep these areas free of
  pollution in order to insure a healthy population.

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Fires

• Carefully planned fires are a benefit to habitat
  growth.
• Controlled burns should never be used in dry
  areas because wildfires can develop.
• Firebreaks are shallow ditches or trenches that
  outline the fire in order to assure that it is
  controlled.
• Fire removes twigs, leaves, and other dead
  vegetation on the ground that has accumulated
  over the years and some invasive plants.
• Properly using fire helps to renew understory and
  allows for browse to grow.

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Fertilizer

• Fertilizer is used to assure nutrients for
  adequate plant growth.
• Plant species require different nutrients, so it
  is important to research these topics before
  purchasing a fertilizer.
• Soil testing may be needed in order to determine
  the kind of fertilizer to use.
• When fertilizing, apply evenly over the land. It
  will produce best results on grasses, forbs, and
  trees.
• Due to our large land mass and low rainfall in
  New Mexico it is not generally a wise investment
  to attempt to fertilize wildlife habitat.

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Site Preservation

• In some cases, it is best to leave the area
  undisturbed.
• The area must be studied in advance because some
  practices may destroy food supplies and habitats
  of animal wildlife and cause them to leave.

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Review
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Review / Summary

• What are the types of wildlife habitat?
• What are habitat requirements for selected
  species of animal wildlife?
• What is habitat mix?
• What are the goals of habitat production?
• What are some selected management practices for
  small areas of habitat?

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The End!