Manipulation of rangeland wildlife habitat

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Abstract

Rangeland manipulations have occurred for centuries. Those manipulations may have positive or negative effects on multiple wildlife species and their habitats. Some of these manipulations may result in landscape changes that fragment wildlife habitat and isolate populations. Habitat degradation and subsequent restoration may range from simple problems that are easy to restore to complex problems that require multiple interventions at multiple scales to solve. In all cases, knowledge of the wildlife species’ habitat needs throughout their life history, of their population dynamics and habitat-related sensitivities, and of their temporal and spatial scale for home ranges and genetic exchange will assist in determining appropriate restoration options. Habitat restoration will begin with an understanding of the vegetation’s successional recovery options and their time scales relative to wildlife population declines. We discuss passive and active manipulations and their application options. Passive manipulations focus on changes to current management. Active manipulations may include removal of undesirable vegetation using manual harvesting, mechanical, chemical, or biological methods while desirable vegetation is enhanced through the reintroduction of desirable wildlife habitat structure and function. These techniques will require monitoring of wildlife and their habitat at both the landscape and site level in an adaptive management framework to learn from our past and improve our future management.

Publication type Book chapter
Publication Subtype Book Chapter
Title Manipulation of rangeland wildlife habitat
DOI 10.1007/978-3-031-34037-6_5
Year Published 2023
Language English
Publisher Springer
Contributing office(s) Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Description 40 p.
Larger Work Type Book
Larger Work Subtype Monograph
Larger Work Title Rangeland wildlife ecology and conservation.
First page 107
Last page 146
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