A land manager's guide to conserving habitat for forest birds in ...

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Male Baltimore Oriole — Photo: Marie Read “A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” Aldo Leopold 76
Great Crested Flycatcher — Photo: Daniel Cadieux WHERE TO BEGIN Whether managing a woodlot for wildlife or for high-value timber production, the importance of making appropriate management decisions cannot be understated. Knowing what you have, what you want to do, and having the right tools and information available to help you do it, will go a long way to ensuring that your woodlot is managed in the best possible way. The silviculture system you choose for managing your stand should recognize the true potential of your forest based on its current condition and the productivity of your site (see Assessing the Health, Vigour, and Quality of Your Woodlot on page 78). The choice of a silvicultural system, and the preparation and application of a silvicultural prescription usually requires the assistance of a professional forester. Consider the following before you harvest your woodlot: Photo: Lucas Foerster 1. Goals: Develop a management plan that outlines short- and long-term goals and objectives for your property. Work to conserve biodiversity by considering the range of species present and/or suitability of your woodlot for specialized species or specialized habitats when developing forest management plans (see Habitat Management Considerations on page 79). Ensure your harvest method will help achieve those goals. (If you are considering applying for the Ontario Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program, you must have a management plan.) The province has produced A Guide to Stewardship Planning for Natural Areas that creates a good framework for developing a plan. 2. Ecological conditions: Some tree species are very adaptable and can grow in a wide range of geographical locations, climate zones, and soil types. Other tree species thrive under very specific conditions. Know your woodlot to understand how the ecological conditions affect the growth of existing tree species and the species you plan to regenerate. 3. Stand characteristics: Review the stand characteristics from your woodlot inventory (size of the area, species type, tree density, species composition, age, and understorey vegetation) to help you to determine which silvicultural system or harvest method will work best for you and what attributes to protect or emphasize. Be aware of the current state of your stand; if you inherited a degraded or poorly managed woodlot, it may take some years of careful management to reestablish a healthy functioning woodlot that will produce high value forest products and ecological services (see Rehabilitating Degraded Woodlands on page 80). 4. Species regeneration characteristics: When reviewing your inventory data, evaluate whether regeneration or small seedlings exist and which species seem to be dominant. If these are shade-tolerant species like sugar maple, beech, and hemlock then the selection system will continue to support their development and growth. If you have other less shade-tolerant species in the regeneration layer or represented in the overstorey you may need to consider group selection or even-aged systems to promote the perpetuation of those species in your forest. To regenerate a mixedwood forest of oak and pine, choose the shelterwood system. Small patch clear cuts may work best for shade-intolerant species like aspen, balsam poplar, or tulip tree because they require full sunlight for regeneration. Land owners must ensure the chosen silvicultural system and approach to logging is permitted under their local tree conservation by-law. 5. Age: Determine if you have an even-aged or uneven-aged stand. Trees in even-aged stands are about the same age (plus or minus 10 years) and form a single canopy Where to Begin 77
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Ministry of Natural Resources A lan
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A land manager’s guide to conserv
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Male Scarlet Tananger — Photo: Je
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Photo: Algonquin Museum INTRODUCTIO
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Southern Ontario has a landscape ty
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Gray tree frog — Photo: Scott Gil
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Researcher removing bird from net
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Sugar maples — Photo: Robert McCa
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of other wildlife including America
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Male Chestnut-sided Warbler — Pho
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Female American Redstart — Photo:
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Male Black-throated Blue Warbler
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Male American Redstart — Photo: G
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Artwork: Peter Burke Forest Birds i
Page 29 and 30: Flock of Brown-headed Cowbirds —
Page 31 and 32: Photo: Scott Gillingwater Source an
Page 33 and 34: Imagery produced by the Provincial
Page 35 and 36: destroy nests, and lawns that provi
Page 37 and 38: Northern Cardinal — Photo: Daniel
Page 39 and 40: Photo: Larry Watkins FOREST HARVEST
Page 41 and 42: Tree species Additional Carolinian
Page 43 and 44: Photo: Lucas Foerster normally perf
Page 45 and 46: Logging damage — Photo: Lucas Foe
Page 47 and 48: This table illustrates the structur
Page 49 and 50: Conifer plantation — Photo: Ken E
Page 51 and 52: Silvicultural system or method Clea
Page 53 and 54: Female Pileated Woodpecker —Photo
Page 55 and 56: Hairy Woodpecker Northern Flicker P
Page 57 and 58: Louisiana Warbler Mourning Warbler
Page 59 and 60: Elderberry — Photo: Robert McCaw
Page 61 and 62: Male Northern Flicker in cavity wit
Page 63 and 64: Cedar Waxwings Mourning cloak butte
Page 65 and 66: Photo: Doug Tozer GUIDELINES FOR FO
Page 67 and 68: Barred Owl — Photo: Dan Kaiser Ol
Page 69 and 70: Redwoods —Photo: Jarrid Spicer so
Page 71 and 72: Photo: Lucas Foerster 6. Retain cav
Page 73 and 74: Types of Cavity Trees escape or roo
Page 75 and 76: 9. Limit timing of harvesting activ
Page 77 and 78: Blackberry — Photo: Robert McCaw
Page 79: that are similar to the historic va
Page 83 and 84: hazards, harvest during winter on f
Page 85 and 86: potential. In these cases, the mana
Page 87 and 88: Male Blue-winged Warbler — Photo:
Page 89 and 90: Trembling aspen — Photo: Robert M
Page 91 and 92: M. C. Brittingham and S. A. Temple.
Page 93 and 94: Glossary of Terms abiotic — non-l
Page 95 and 96: conk — hard bracket or shelf fung
Page 97 and 98: ground cover — the layer of veget
Page 99 and 100: nurse crop — any tree, shrub, or
Page 101 and 102: site preparation — chemical (e.g.
Page 103 and 104: Chestnut-sided Warbler — Photo: B
Page 105 and 106: Diet The Ruffed Grouse diet is comp
Page 107 and 108: Red-headed Woodpecker Melanerpes er
Page 109 and 110: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Sphyrapicu
Page 111 and 112: Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus
Page 113 and 114: Pileated Woodpecker Dryocopus pilea
Page 115 and 116: Acadian Flycatcher Empidonax viresc
Page 117 and 118: Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus 19 m
Page 119 and 120: Black-capped Chickadee Poecile atri
Page 121 and 122: Brown Creeper Certhia americana The
Page 123 and 124: Wood Thrush Hylocichla mustelina Di
Page 125 and 126: Gray Catbird Dumetella carolinensis
Page 127 and 128: Golden-winged Warbler Vermivora chr
Page 129 and 130: Cerulean Warbler Dendroica cerulea
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Ovenbird Seiurus aurocapilla In Ont
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Hooded Warbler Wilsonia citrina Fem
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Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardin
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Indigo Bunting Passerina cyanea Fem
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List of Photographers Al Woodliffe
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