Service Forester's Handbook

This page is read only. You can view the source, but not change it. Ask your administrator if you think this is wrong.
====== Guides for Wildlife Habitat Management ======
====Habitat Needs ====
===Gray Squirrel ===
Hardwoods are a must for gray squirrels. They require partial hardwood stands of trees old enough
(25 years) to produce mast and provide dens (40 years). The squirrels home range is 2-8 acres. 
Reproduction is 2 1/2 times more successful in tree cavities than nests. Den entrance holes are 
usually 2 1/2-3 inches in diameter and den cavities 14 inches in depth. They should be waterproof
and 15 feet or more above ground level. A squirrel needs about 1 1/2 lbs. of hard mast per week
from September through March. Preferred foods are hickory nuts, beechnut, white oak group and black
(or red) oak group acorns, in that order. Supportive foods are berries, soft mast, buds, seeds, and 
fungi. Red maple is particularly important in early spring and mulberry in May and June. Typical 
seasonal foods of gray squirrels are: 

  August-October:                       November-January:             May-July:
   Hickory & Pecan                       Hickory                       Buds & Flowers      
   Beech                                 Beech                         Berries
   Blackgum                              Walnut                        Mulberry
   Acorns (White oak group)†             Acorns (White oak group)†     Fungi
   Acorns (Black Oak Group)              Acorns (Black oak group)      Blackberry
   Sugarmaple seeds                      Blackgum                      Yellow Poplar
   Pine seeds                            Yellow Poplar
   Walnut                     
   Fungi                              February-April:
   Dogwood                              Acorns (Black oak group)†
   Hawthorn                             Hickory
   Hornbeam                             Beech
   Chinquapin                           Buds & Flowers (Maple, Oak, Elm, etc.)
   Yellow poplar                        Fungi
   Black Cherry                         Magnolia
                                        Cucumber
                                        
† The black (or red) oaks are characterized by bristles on the tips of leaf lobes and fruit matures
at end of second season. White oak fruit matures at the end of the first growing season and leaf 
lobes are not bristle tipped


===Bobwhite Quail===
Interspersed open forests, brush, grass, and cultivated fields are the best habitat for quail, but
they survive in many forest types. Choice nesting cover is one-year-old grass. They also nest at
the edges of forest clearings 1/5-acre or larger. Eighty-five percent of the quail diet consists of
seeds. Legume, grass, and weed seeds are most important foods (in that order). Normal range is 40
acres. Quail nest from April to September.

Important Food Species common to Piedmont and Coastal Plains forests, together with plant
part utilized are: 
^Herbaceous plant         ^Plant Part    ^Trees, Shrubs and Vines              ^Plant part |
|Ragweed                  |Seed          |Maple                                |Seed       |
|Beggarticks              |Seed          |Hackberry                            |Seed       |
|Partridge Pea            |Seed          |Flowering Dogwood                    |Seed       |
|Goatweed                 |Seed          |Persimmon                            |Seed       |
|Chufa, nut grass         |Tubers        |Bayberry                             |Seed       |
|Tick trefoil (beggarweed)|Seed          |Blackgum                             |Seed       |
|Wild Millet              |Seed          |Pines, Longleaf, Loblolly (preferred)|Seed       |
|Lespedeza                |Seed          |Cherry                               |Seed       |
|Grasses                  |Seed          |Oaks                                 |Seed       |
|Pokeweed                 |Berry         |Sumacs                               |Seed       |
|Smartweed                |Seed          |Blackberry                           |Berry      |
|Vetch                    |Seed          |Grapes                               |Berry      |
|Panicum                  |Seed          |Magnolia, bay                        |Seed       |
|Milk peas                |Seed          |Sweetgum                             |Seed       |
|Butterfly peas           |Seed          | 

===Wild Turkey===
Good turkey habitat contains mature stands of mixed hardwoods, groups of conifers, relatively open
understories, scattered clearings, well-distributed water, and reasonable freedom from disturbance.
Home range is about one square mile. Turkey diet consists primarily of grass and weed seeds in the 
fall, mast and forage in the winter and spring, and forage and insects in the summer. Acorns, 
dogwood berries, clover, and pine seed are the foremost foods. Soybeans, corn, chufas and pasture are
the agricultural crops most frequently used. Openings are essential for brood range.

Food of Wild Turkey:
^Grass and Weed Seeds        ^Other Tree seeds       | 
|Paspalums(bull grass)       |Sweetgum               |
|Panicums                    |Pine                   |
|Native Legumes              ^Insects and Snails     |
^Hard Mast                   |Grasshoppers           |
|Acorns                      |Millipedes             |
|Beechnuts                   |Insect Larvae          |
|Pecans                      ^Berries                |
^Forage                      |Blackberries,Dewberries|
|Clovers                     |Huckleberries          |
|Grasses                     |Strawberries           |
|Sedges                      ^Grain                  |
^Soft Mast                   |Oats                   |
|Dogwood                     |Corn                   |
|Grapes                      |
|Cherries                    |

===Ruffed Grouse===
This game bird is found in the southern Appalachian Mountains and the Cumberland and Appalachian 
Plateaus, usually above 2,000 feet in elevation. It prospers in the early stages of forest 
succession but occurs in mature stands as well. Grouse use fruit, seed, catkins, buds, and green
parts of over 300 plants for food. Broods require insects from late May through July. Thickets, 
vine tangles and dense shrub growth are used for escape cover. Nesting cover is usually open 
understories near drumming logs and openings or old logging roads that serve as brood range. Home
range is 40 to 50 acres.

Some Favorite plant foods of grouse are: 
^Spring          ^Summer           ^Fall        ^Winter        |
|Apple           |Blackcherry      |Crataegus   |Birch         |
|Serviceberry    |Raspberry        |Apple       |Horphornbeam  |
|Yellow Birch    |Blackberry       |Viburnum    |Grape         |
|Sumac           |Dewberry         |Beech       |Apple         |
|Strawberry      |Strawberry       |Huckleberry |Acorns        |
|Hophornbeam     |Mulberry         |Sumac       |Greenbriar    |
|Various Catkins |Touch-me-not     |Birch       |Hazelnut      |
|                |Partridge Berry  |Dogwood     |Sumac         |
|                |Crataegus        |Grape       |Laurel        |
|                |                 |Acorns      |Clover        |
|                |                 |            |Teaberry      |
|                |                 |            |Gold Seal     |
|                |                 |            |Hepatica      |
|                |                 |            |Christmas Fern|

===White Tailed Deer===
Deer Survive in most forest and non-forest conditions and types. The early stages of timber rotation
and intermediate cuts produce abundant deer browse and fruits. During the fall and winter, deer prefer
hard mast (acorns, pecans, beechnuts) and evergreen forage. Rapid-growing green browse and herbage are
principle spring and summer foods. Deer require about 6 to 8 lbs. of green weight food daily each
100 lbs. weight. Their home range seldom exceeds 300 acres where food, cover, and water are 
interspersed. Prescribed burning and fertilization attract deer because of improved nutrition and 
palatability of food plants.

Important deer browse species by physiographic  province, in order of preference are:
^Mountains             ^Piedmont             ^Coastal Plain     |
|Greenbriar            |Japanese Honeysuckle |Black Titi        |
|Azalea                |Greenbriar           |Tall Gallberry    |
|Blueberry             |Yellow Poplar        |Greenbriar        |
|Chestnut              |Azalea               |Honeysuckle       |
|Dogwood               |Viburnums            |Blackberry        |
|Blackgum              |Sourwood             |Yellow Jessamine  |
|Oak                   |Blackgum             |Myrtle Holly      |
|Sourwood              |Dogwood              |Wild Rose         |
|Mtn. Laurel           |Soft Maple           |Deer's Tongue     |
|Huckleberry           |Blueberry            |Mushrooms         |
|Strawberry Bush       |Cherry               |Sumac             |
|Buffalo Nut           |Persimmon            |Prickly Pear      |
|Japanese Honeysuckle  |Blackberry           |Yaupon            |
|Blackberry            |Strawberry bush      |Sassafras         |
|Sumac                 |                     |Viburnums         |
|Hydrangea             |                     |Strawberry Bush   |
|Aralia                |
|Grape                 |
|Rhododendron          |   

====Timber Prescription Guides for Wildlife Habitat Management By Stages of Stand Development====
===Gray Squirrel===
**Seedling or Open**:
   Exclude Fire or grazing. Without desirable hardwood sprout or seedling reproduction, 
   opportunities for habitat improvement are slim. If present when regenerating, 
   retain two den trees per 5 acres that have a 25-year life expectancy or more. 
**Sapling**:
   Thin to release a variety of oaks, hickory, walnut, beech, and pecan trees. 
   Protect grape vines, exclude fire and retain vigorous den trees.
Pole: 
   Thin early and heavy to release mast trees and to promote vigorous growth of 
   future sawtimber trees and understory fruit-bearing shrubs and trees. 
   Retain existing or potential den trees such as maple,beech, and black cherry. 
   Promote vigorous growth of future sawtimber and fruiting of understory
   shrubs and trees. Oak, beech and hickory should comprise about 1/2 stand. 
**Young Sawtimber**:
   Cut to favor a good mixture of large mast producers and den trees. 
   Retain existing den trees and thin. Protect grape vines. 
   Thin heavily dense mid-stories.
**Mature Sawtimber**: 
   Make salvage and sanitation cuts and retain a variety of healthy mast producing 
   and den trees. Prior to regeneration, make heavy cuts to encourage oak reproduction. 
   Regenerate hardwoods with clearcuts or large group selection to get rapid early growth. 
   Inventory to assure that oak reproduction is present prior to regeneration harvest cutting.
===Bob White Quail===
**Seedling or Open**: 
   This stage of pine stands can be most productive for quail since regeneration areas are
   excellent habitat for 1-4 years. Double chop during October-March to lengthen period of
   site preparation for quail. Plow out or leave one-year roughs one acre in size for nesting.
   Plant pines at wide spacing (300-500 per acre). Protect old home sites, spring heads, and 
   branch bottoms. If warranted, plant legumes in long, narrow (about 20 ft wide) food strips
   through the woods (see local game biologists for specifics).
**Sapling**:
   Prescribe burn older sapling pine stands to encourage herbaceous growth. Thin to hasten 
   stand development and open forest floor. Maintain small openings with disc or fire. 
   Protect old house sites, branch stringers, and food patches.
**Pole**: 
   Thin early and heavy in pine stands. Prescribe burn in 3 year intervals to promote grasses, 
   weed seeds. Exclude fire from the best seed and berry producing understory areas.
**Young Sawtimber**:
   Develop park-like pine sawtimber stands by thinning and burning. Exclude fire from edges,
   plum thickets and fringes of branch bottoms. Prescribe burn portions of stands on 2-3 year
   schedule. Plow out one-year roughs for nesting and special food areas. Use natural openings
   and fire-breaks for supplemental food patches of 1 to 2 acres per 160 acres. Plant legumes
   such as lespedeza bicolor, partridge pea, and common lespedeza. Strips should be long 
   and narrow and lead away from bays and springs.
**Mature Sawtimber**: 
   maintain park-like stands. At regeneration, protect seed and fruit bearing trees and shrubs
   along fringe or edge. Log and do cultural activities in winter or late fall. Under such
   conditions pine stands can be managed for decades on good sites if trees are given room
   to grow and if selected insect and disease tree removals are made. Prescribe burn every
   2 to 3 year interval.
===Wild Turkey===
**Seedling or Open**: 
   This stage provides nesting and brood range. Plant pines at 10' X 10' or 10' X 12' spacing
   to aid rapid stand development and lengthen the grass and form production period. Avoid
   site disturbances March through June to protect nesting and brood areas. Manage for 
   sawtimber rotation in both pine and hardwood stands. One-forth of each square mile should 
   be managed to produce mast bearing species if possible.
**Sapling**:
   In hardwoods thin to favor oaks beech and other turkey mast. In older sapling pine, burn
   December-February to encourage grass and forb production. (Turkeys seldom use stands of 
   this stage).
**Pole**: 
   Thin to release mast producers in hardwoods and pine hardwood stands. Retain 20 to 50% of 
   the stand in oak and beech. In pine, prescribe burn portions of the stand at 3 to 5 year
   intervals in December through February. Protect shrubs bearing fruits and soft mast in 
   selected areas, especially in transition zones between pine hills and bottoms when burning.
**Young Sawtimber**:
   Cut to improve and maintain a variety of mast bearing trees and fruit bearing shrubs. Break
   up large areas of dense understory. Use fire or logging to keep pine stands open. Confine
   harvesting season to July-February and remove all products in same operation to reduce 
   disturbance.
**Mature Sawtimber**:
   Apply 80 to 100 year rotation. Maintain pine in medium to fully stocked stands to prevent a 
   heavy midstory. Burn pine stands in December-February on a 3 to 5 year cycle. Consider 
   surrounding stands in selective regeneration areas to maintain diversity. At harvest and 
   before regeneration, plan to remove all commercial and noncommercial stems to assure 
   development of intolerant mast bearing seedlings and sprouts. Harvest July-February in one
   operation or as quickly as possible in stand sizes up to 100 acres in size. Distribute cuts 
   to minimize disturbance and other impacts and retain sawtimber stands needed for turkey
   habitat. 
===Ruffed Grouse===
**Seedling or Open**: 
   Prepare sites for conifers and maintain openings by prescribed fire or discing possibly in 
   early spring. Protect and maintain old house places, thickets of thornapple and grape, old
   apple trees, and patches of clover, which are aids to hunting. Plant or encourage conifer
   patches (1 to 5 acres in size) in extensive hardwood areas.
**Sapling**:
   Develop a wide variety of species when making precommercial thinnings. Break up extensive 
   stands of conifers with pockets of hardwood.
**Pole**: 
   Cut to maintain a variety of tree species and encourage understory shrub growth. Thin
   early and frequently. 
**Young Sawtimber**:
   Maintain rapid growth of overstory and vigorous shrub understory through thinnings. Reduce
   midstory stems. Maintain a variety of species mixture in overstory and understory.
**Mature Sawtimber**: 
   Maintain vigorous shrub understories while favoring rapid growth in the overstory through
   thinnings. Regenerate in well-distributed stands (1 to 40 acres in size). Space and 
   schedule cuts to make at least one available during each cutting period.
===White Tailed Deer===
**Seedling or Open**: 
   Plant pine seedlings at 10' X 10' or greater spacing (436 less per acre). Prepare sites in 
   early spring. Favor burning over mechanical means to retain root crowns of browse plants.
   Protect hardwood regeneration from grazing and over-browsing. Avoid long continuous 
   wind-rows that that deter deer movement. Retain old house sites, water areas, thickets,
   and unique winter cover areas (primarily in oak-hickory stands). 
**Sapling**:
   In older sapling pine stands, prescribe burn to produce forbs and browse. Thin hardwood
   stands to favor oaks and other fruit bearers. Favor a variety of high and consistent 
   consistent fruit and nut yielders. Exclude fire and grazing from hardwood stands.
**Pole**: 
   In thinnings, favor oaks and other mast trees. Stimulate early diameter growth. Retain a 
   wide variety of fruit and mast trees in the understory. In hardwood stands favor black
   oaks 2 to 1 over white oaks, and exclude fire.
**Young Sawtimber**:
   Selectively cut hardwood stands, cut to maintain a variety of mast trees; where it is 
   scarce, protect winter cover and browse such as honeysuckle, laurel, etc. Prescribe 
   burn pine stands every 3-5 years. Intermediate cuts help produce sprouts and other 
   browse. Maintain openings by burning or mowing.
**Mature Sawtimber**: 
   Maintain hardwood stands at full or near-full stocking until regeneration; then cut stand
   heavy enough to encourage oak reproduction. Protect evergreen browse, cover and water
   areas in harvest cuts. Defer regeneration of mature hardwood mast stands where scarce
   (less than 20% of area within a 300-acre range). Cut pine stands frequently to maintain
   understory browse variety and break up dense midstories. When regenerating select and 
   and retain key areas such as hardwood component stringers, evergreen browse patches, 
   water holes, and old orchards, etc.
Service Forester's Handbook

User Tools

Site Tools

Page Tools
