Technical guide to forest wildlife habitat management in New England

Abstract

Forest wildlife populations and their habitats in New England are products of the land—its condition after centuries of human use and natural processes. Conditions are never static; they are changing continually in response to disturbance and succession. Habitats for all species once were provided continuously by wind, fire, and other disturbances. Native prairies, shrublands, forests opened by burns and blowdowns, and subsequent forest regrowth provided habitats for a diverse New England fauna in a shifting mosaic across the landscape. This is no longer the case. Development of historically open habitats, fire control, and the decline of agriculture have changed the landscape dramatically. Today in much of New England, forests are mature and largely unmanaged. Wildlife species associated with mature forests—fisher and pileated woodpecker, for example—have become common. Species associated with old fields, brushlands, and young forests—field sparrows, eastern towhees, and New England cottontails, among many others—have declined precipitously as their habitats have been developed or have reverted to forest. This volume is a compilation of forest management practices that are now necessary for creating a range of forest habitat conditions to maintain or enhance forest wildlife diversity in the region.