Volume 377, 1 October 2016, Pages 93–100
- 1474 Campus Delivery, Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
- Received 7 April 2016, Revised 14 June 2016, Accepted 15 June 2016, Available online 5 July 2016
Highlights
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- Tree removal to benefit livestock and wildlife has been common for decades.
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- This practice has long-term effects on diverse mammal species in Colorado.
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- Habitat use by most mammal species was lower in historically disturbed sites.
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- Mammal habitat use was associated with specific vegetation characteristics.
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- Forest management should consider long-term effects on animal communities.
Abstract
Removing
tree cover is a common forest management practice, and pinyon-juniper
woodlands in the western United States have been the focus of tree
reduction efforts for decades. The scale and intensity of tree removal
practices are expected to increase as technology advances and as land
managers are tasked with meeting multiple objectives, including fire
prevention and habitat enhancement for livestock and wildlife of
conservation concern. However, the long-term consequences of
pinyon-juniper removal on animal communities are virtually unknown. The
objectives of this study were to assess whether mammal habitat use
differs between reference pinyon-juniper woodlands and stands that were
mechanically disturbed by chaining more than 40 years ago, and to
determine if these differences are associated with particular habitat
characteristics. We used remotely triggered wildlife cameras to evaluate
differences in mammal habitat use of historically chained sites (n = 22) and reference sites (n = 22)
in northwestern Colorado. Our results demonstrate marked differences in
habitat use between chained sites and reference woodlands for most
detected mammal species. Bobcat, mountain lion, American black bear,
golden-mantled ground squirrel, and rock squirrel all showed a negative
response to historically chained sites, indicating long-term effects of
tree removal on these species. In contrast, habitat use of chipmunk,
mountain cottontail, and coyote did not differ between chained and
reference sites. For most species, habitat use was influenced by
specific vegetation characteristics, such as proportion of tree cover,
which could be factored into management decisions. By understanding the
long-term consequences of tree removal for diverse mammal species, we
are better equipped to adapt forest management practices to benefit
species of both economic and conservation concern.
Keywords
- Bayesian binomial mixture model;
- Camera trap;
- Chaining;
- Habitat manipulation;
- Mechanical disturbance;
- Piñon-juniper
© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
