Native Plants As Habitat For Wildlife - Native Plant Society of ...

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Saab, V.A., C. E. Bock, T. D. Rich and D. S. Dobkin. 1995. Livestock grazing effects in western North America. Pp 311-353 in Ecology and management of Neotropical migratory birds-A synthesis and review of critical issues (T. E. Martin and D. M. Finch, eds). Oxford University Press, New York. Savoy, E. 1991. The importance of riparian forests to prairie birds: A case study from Dinosaur Provincial Park. In the biology and management of southern Alberta’s cottonwoods. (S. Rood and J. Mahoney eds.). May 3-4, University of Lethbridge. 20
Saskatchewan’s Grassland Mammals: a Century of Change Wayne C. Harris Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management In the 1800's, with the arrival of Europeans, major changes occurred in the mammalian fauna of the Northern Great Plains. Plain’s bison, were hunted to near extinction; elk disappeared from the grasslands; pronghorn and mule deer were seriously depleted. Their primary predators, plain’s wolves and plain’s grizzly bears, were eliminated completely. Although these losses were catastrophic in their own right, they had subtle wide ranging affects on other species that happened slowly over the next 100 years. Swift Foxes disappeared from the prairie provinces early in the twentieth century, probably a side affect of the earlier poisoning campaign to eliminate wolves and the loss of bison, elk and deer carcasses for food during winter months. Other species began to fill the vacated niches. Domestic cattle replaced the large grazing herbivores. Coyotes and red foxes, though probably always present in small numbers, increased dramatically. The twentieth century saw the arrival of cereal crop production and the control of fire. During this time, large areas of annual grassland (wheat) or bare soil (summer fallow) replaced more than 75% of the native perennial grassland; trees and shrubs began to develop around wetlands. Species that could adapt to these changes began to increase or arrive from other areas. Coyotes and red foxes thrived. White-tailed deer expanded their range from the eastern hardwood forests into Saskatchewan; so did racoons. Species such as white-tailed jackrabbits probably increased at least initially as more cover and food developed. Others declined dramatically as their habitat was lost or they competed with agricultural production and were eliminated; Richardson’s ground squirrel is an obvious example. Other changes were much more subtle. The “prairie” cycle has seemingly disappeared. The cycle referred to is the periodic population highs and lows which species such as hares and microtine rodents traditionally experienced. Hares reached peaks in their populations about once every ten years while voles are thought to have reached highs every 3-5 years. The population peaks for white-tailed jackrabbits occurred in 1960, again in 1970 and 1980 but the expected peaks for 1990 and 2000 did not occur. Population explosions experienced by meadow voles in southern Saskatchewan during 1997 were the first in more than two decades. This combined with an unexplained crash in Richardson’s ground squirrels in 1994, has had implications for predator species dependent upon them for food. Some may be headed to extirpation (burrowing owls) while others such as the very adaptable coyote prey on other species (i.e. pronghorn and deer fawns) and continue to thrive. What does the future hold for our grassland mammals Will our attempts to re-establish swift foxes succeed Will other species increase, and more decrease Ever evolving agricultural practices and changes to our remaining native grassland base will undoubtedly result in ongoing changes in our native mammalian fauna. 21
Page 1 and 2: The Native Plant Society of Saskatc
Page 3 and 4: Workshop Program and Table of Conte
Page 5 and 6: Biodiversity and the Link Between N
Page 7 and 8: maintenance of a wide array of ecol
Page 9 and 10: Prairie Conservation Action Plan -
Page 11 and 12: The Government of Canada Habitat St
Page 13 and 14: glacial moraine covers approximatel
Page 15 and 16: Loss and Degradation of Native Mixe
Page 17 and 18: Some Plant-Animal Relationships in
Page 19 and 20: The Missouri Coteau - Biodiversity
Page 21 and 22: Guiding principles for the developm
Page 23: In the first study widespread loss
Page 27 and 28: The Saskatchewan Burrowing Owl Inte
Page 29 and 30: Wildlife and Plants, a Nature Enthu
Page 31 and 32: Native Plant Industry Trends Andy H
Page 33 and 34: NPSS Role in the Native Seed Indust
Page 35 and 36: Winter Twig and Shrub Identificatio
Page 37 and 38: Acer negundo (Manitoba maple or box
Page 39 and 40: Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (bearberry
Page 41 and 42: Elaeagnus commutata (wolf willow or
Page 43 and 44: Use: Depending on their size and fo
Page 45 and 46: summer. The grey-green compound lea
Page 47 and 48: need control. They are susceptible
Page 49 and 50: Rosa arkansana (prairie rose) - Thi

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