Wildlife Habitat Conservation: Concepts, Challenges, and Solutions

198 Pages·2015·1.72 MB·English

by  Michael L. Morrison

WILDLIFE HABITAT CONSERVATION
Wildlife Management and Conservation
Paul R. Krausman, Series Editor
W I L D L I F E
Habitat Conservation
Concepts, Challenges, and Solutions
EDITED BY
MICHAEL L. MORRISON
& HEATHER A. MATHEWSON
Published in Association with THE WILDLIFE SOCIETY
johns hopkins university press | baltimore
© 2015 Johns Hopkins University Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Wildlife habitat conservation : concepts, challenges, and
solutions / edited by Michael L. Morrison and Heather A.
Mathewson.
pages cm. — (Wildlife management and conservation)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978- 1- 4214- 1610- 6 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN
978- 1- 4214- 1611- 3 (electronic) — ISBN 1- 4214- 1610- 7
(hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 1- 4214- 1611- 5 (electronic)
1. Habitat conservation. I. Morrison, Michael L.
II. Mathewson, Heather A. (Heather Alexis), 1974–
QH75.W529 2015
333.95'4—dc23 2014020806
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Contents
List of Contributors vii 8 The Impact of Invasive Species on Wildlife
Preface ix Habitat 102
Acknowledgments xi Julie L. Lockwood and J. Curtis Burkhalter
Part I • Foundation Part III • Research and Conservation
1 The Misunderstanding of Habitat 3 9 Thoughts on Models and Prediction 117
Heather A. Mathewson and Michael L. Bret A. Collier and Douglas H. Johnson
Morrison
10 Manage Habitat, Monitor Species 128
2 Exploration and Critique of Habitat and Habitat Michael K. Schwartz, Jamie S. Sanderlin, and
Quality 9 William M. Block
Fred S. Guthery and Bronson K. Strickland
11 The Effects of Disturbance and Succession on
3 Demographic Consequences of Habitat 19 Wildlife Habitat and Animal Communities 143
Amanda D. Rodewald Kevin S. McKelvey
4 Managing Habitats in a Changing World 34 12 Wildlife Habitat Restoration 157
Beatrice Van Horne and John A. Wiens Kathi L. Borgmann and Courtney J. Conway
Conclusion: Synthesis for Advancing Useful
Part II • Habitats in Peril
Knowledge of Habitat: Unifying Themes or Many
5 Habitat Loss and Degradation: Understanding Directions? 169
Anthropogenic Stressors and Their Impacts on Michael L. Morrison and Heather A.
Individuals, Populations, and Communities 47 Mathewson
Clinton D. Francis
Index 175
6 Population Genetics and Wildlife Habitat 63
Lisette P. Waits and Clinton W. Epps
7 Habitat Fragmentation and Corridors 84
K. Shawn Smallwood
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Contributors
William M. Block Douglas H. Johnson
U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service U.S. Geological Survey
Rocky Mountain Research Station Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Kathi L. Borgmann Julie L. Lockwood
Arizona Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources
School of Natural Resources and the Environment Rutgers University
University of Arizona
Heather A. Mathewson
J. Curtis Burkhalter Department of Wildlife, Sustainability, and Ecosystem
Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources Sciences
Rutgers University Tarleton State University
Bret A. Collier Kevin S. McKelvey
Texas A&M Institute of Renewable Natural Resources U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service
Texas A&M University Rocky Mountain Research Station
Courtney J. Conway Michael L. Morrison
U.S. Geological Survey Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences
Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Texas A&M University
Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences
Amanda D. Rodewald
University of Idaho
Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Department of
Clinton W. Epps Natural Resources
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Cornell University
Oregon State University
Jamie S. Sanderlin
Clinton D. Francis U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service
Department of Biological Sciences Rocky Mountain Research Station
California Polytechnic State University
Michael K. Schwartz
Fred S. Guthery U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service
Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Rocky Mountain Research Station
Management
K. Shawn Smallwood
Oklahoma State University
Davis, California
viii contributors
Bronson K. Strickland John A. Wiens
Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture School of Plant Biology
Mississippi State University University of Western Australia
Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
Beatrice Van Horne
Point Blue Conservation Science
U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service
Pacific Northwest Research Station
Lisette P. Waits
Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences
University of Idaho
Preface
There are a plethora of books that describe the many tat and ranging to how recent insights in demograph-
impacts that humans have on the environment, and ics, spatial and temporal heterogeneity, and behavioral
there are many books that provide very technical (e.g., processes have increased the complexity of the concept
modeling) ways to analyze complex environmental of habitat. It considers how the goals of resource mana-
impacts. Missing are books that blend an understand- gers oftentimes rely on the simplified, traditional con-
ing of the impacts on wildlife and wildlife habitat with cept of habitat, resulting in tension with the habitat
ways to address and hopefully start to ameliorate nega- concept when applied to complex processes.
tive impacts. We chose the topic for each chapter in this Part II delves into specific factors impacting wild-
volume to address a major issue confronting wildlife life habitat through more than just the removal of
habitat. Hence the book presents in- depth coverage of vegetative cover. The traditional view of habitat as a
individual topics while also presenting a broad cover- vegetation type is complicated by loss or degradation
age of topics overall. via sources other than just changes in land cover. An-
The purpose of Wildlife Habitat Conservation is to thropogenic effects such as lights and sounds can de-
deliver to a broad audience an understanding of the grade the environment without removing vegetation
influences on wildlife and wildlife habitats, including cover per se, and genetic and demographic processes
an evaluation of the state- of- the- art and recommenda- are altered or accelerated with changes to land cover.
tions for a path forward that will advance management Furthermore, the invasion of nonnative plants and
and conservation. Each chapter provides information animals alters habitat structure and processes within
in a form accessible to a broad audience, including but the system. Each chapter discusses how improving our
not limited to advanced undergraduate and graduate understanding of these impacts will contribute to more
students in natural resource management and conser- effectively managing wildlife habitat.
vation (e.g., wildlife, range, conservation biology, rec- Part III emphasizes solutions, including how to
reation and parks); resource managers at local, state, predict future changes, monitoring and planning, and
and federal levels (e.g., state wildlife and parks depart- restoration. These chapters investigate how wildlife
ments, USFWS, BLM, Army Corps); and private land managers and researchers can become more proactive
managers. in how they think about planning, monitoring, manag-
The book is organized into three parts. Part I lays the ing, and restoration in wildlife science. The final chap-
foundation for all that follows, starting with a discus- ter synthesizes the major messages from the book.
sion of the current and traditional use of the term habi-