Abstract
In 2018, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources conducted the Sustainable Timber Harvest Analysis that resulted in the 10-year Stand Exam List (SEL). The SEL includes stands that will be assessed for potential management action from 2021 to 2030, but the location, number, and impact of stands actually harvested remains unknown. This study sought to use modeling to assess potential habitat changes from the SEL for five threatened, endangered, or special concern wildlife species. Three simulation scenarios captured the potential range of harvest from the SEL, and the Wildlife Habitat Indicator for Native Genera and Species model assessed associated habitat changes. The most realistic simulation scenario resulted in statistically insignificant habitat changes of less than ±6%, while two scenarios providing the upper and lower extremes of harvest resulted in statistically significant changes for one species each. Scenarios that resulted in less harvest and more mature forests benefited the five species, reflecting their habitat preferences. The tempering of habitat change values in the most realistic simulation scenario provides evidence for forest management tradeoffs between different wildlife species habitat requirements, as well as other forest resource management objectives.
Highlights
Forest management in the United States has experienced paradigm shifts over the last half century, trending from economically driven, sustained-yield management to multi-resource-driven, ecosystem-wide management [1]
The most realistic simulation scenario resulted in statistically insignificant habitat changes of less than ±6%, while two scenarios providing the upper and lower extremes of harvest resulted in statistically significant changes for one species each
Simulations were successfully completed per the described methodology and the outputs fed into the WHINGS framework for habitat assessment
Summary
Forest management in the United States has experienced paradigm shifts over the last half century, trending from economically driven, sustained-yield management to multi-resource-driven, ecosystem-wide management [1]. Species Act (ESA) [3] (e.g., [4,5,6]) Within this paradigm shift, the importance of threatened, endangered, and special concern species (TESC) has persisted in the United States. The importance of threatened, endangered, and special concern species (TESC) has persisted in the United States This includes events from the passage of the ESA to the highly publicized conservation efforts of the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalus caurina Merriam) in the Pacific Northwest in the 1990s [7] to the national delisting of the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus Linnaeus) in 2007 [8]. Minnesota statutes further define special concern species as those not endangered or threatened, but extremely uncommon in the state, or having unique or highly specific habitat requirements that warrant careful monitoring [10]
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