By Amy Grotta, OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension – Columbia, Washington & Yamhill Counties
Happy fall!
For the fourth installment in our series on native shrubs that are beneficial to wildlife, I’ve chosen one that appropriate to the season, provides some nice fall color to our forests. Now I’ve met more than a few woodland owners who are not fans of vine maple; it’s not a favorite of those who prefer a tidy or parklike forest. Working or wandering in mature forests you’ve probably tripped over it or crawled under it and possibly cursed it under your breath. Nevertheless, vine maple is another of those “brush” species that benefits wildlife in numerous ways. With some tolerance for its rambling ways you can find a place for this species to provide that service on your woodland in concert with your other land management goals. If you are interested in enhancing wildlife habitat on your property, read on for our species profile.
By Amy Grotta, OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension – Columbia, Washington & Yamhill Counties
If one of your land management goals is to provide wildlife habitat, you’ll want to consider keeping a mix of native shrub species on your property. Shrubs provide a host of services to wildlife, including shelter or cover, nesting space, and food from their twigs, leaves, flowers, and fruit. With thought given to species selection and location, retaining existing shrubs or planting them can benefit wildlife without compromising timber growth or forest operations. This is the third article in our Shrubs for Wildlife series (see others here and here). Each article highlights one species that benefits wildlife in northwest Oregon forests.
By Brandy Saffell and Amy Grotta, OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension
Snowberry leaves and fruit in the fall. Photo: Pat Breen, OSU
If one of your land management goals is to provide wildlife habitat, you’ll want to consider keeping a mix of native shrub species on your property. Shrubs provide a host of services to wildlife, including shelter or cover, nesting space, and food from their twigs, leaves, flowers, and fruit. With thought given to species selection and location, retaining existing shrubs or planting them can benefit wildlife without compromising timber growth or forest operations. This is the second article in our Shrubs for Wildlife series (first is here). Each article will highlight one species that benefits wildlife in northwest Oregon forests.
By Brandy Saffell and Amy Grotta, OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension
If one of your land management goals is to provide wildlife habitat, you’ll want to consider keeping a mix of native shrub species on your property. Shrubs provide a host of services to wildlife, including shelter or cover, nesting space, and food from their twigs, leaves, flowers, and fruit. With thought given to species selection and location, retaining existing shrubs or planting them can benefit wildlife without compromising timber growth or forest operations. This is the first article in a series intended to help you recognize some of the “brush” species that may exist on your property, and understand how they may fit with your management goals. Each article will highlight one species that benefits wildlife in northwest Oregon forests.
Mist nets are set up in the pre-dawn light where birds move around during normal feeding activities
By Brad Withrow-Robinson, OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension, Benton, Linn & Polk Counties
I often try to write stories that make a connection between the birds you find in a place and the habitat conditions there. Because habitat is something we can create or alter by our forest practices, this illustrates an opportunity for interested landowners to manage their properties to improve woodland habitat conditions for particular birds. While we focus on birds, it is an illustration that applies to all woodland fauna. Animals tend to be quite responsive to habitat conditions.
Birds are fun, abundant and easy to observe by watching and listening, which makes them a good group of animals for landowners to key in on. In fact, lots of what we know about birds, and how they use different places (migratory arrivals and departure, where the feed and nest) has been gained through careful observation.
But capturing and banding birds is another important tool available to researchers that lets them add another layer of information. By capturing birds, we can learn about their general condition (weight, fat reserves) gender and age distribution, that gives insight on things such as general health or their readiness for breeding or migration. And when lucky enough to recapture a banded bird, we learn valuable details about how they have moved and fared in the time between captures. Continue reading →
By Amy Grotta, OSU Forestry & Natural Resources Extension – Columbia, Washington & Yamhill Counties
A free-to-grow tree coexisting with its early seral neighbors
Early seral…it’s one of the biggest buzzwords in Pacific Northwest forestry these days. But what is it? Put simply, early seral refers to the first stage in forest development following any disturbance, including wind, ice, fire or logging. An early seral, or early successional community is made up of the first colonizers of a forest opening: grasses, other herbaceous plants and broadleaf shrubs. Continue reading →
I recently was at a conference on “Wildlife in Managed Forests” sponsored by the Oregon Society of American Foresters and the Oregon chapter of The Wildlife Society. Speakers discussed current research on wildlife damage and wildlife habitat enhancement projects across western Oregon and Washington. There was far too much interesting stuff for this short article, so in this post I will focus on one recurring theme of the meeting. It’s one of the easiest and most effective ways to maintain a wildlife-friendly forest: retaining dead wood as snags (standing dead trees) or downed wood (on the ground). I’ll return to some other topics later.
Evidence of pileated woodpecker foraging on a snag
Nearly 100 species of animals in Oregon (mostly birds) use snags. First, birds such as woodpeckers forage on insects living in these trees and then excavate cavities in them for nesting. Later, these cavities are used by other bird and mammals for nesting and shelter. Raptors such as hawks may also use snags as perches, from which they can prey on voles or other mammals that might damage seedlings.
With snags, the rule of thumb is “bigger is better” – smaller diameter snags will only be used by smaller animals and do not last as long. So if scattered trees die on your property, consider leaving them for wildlife, keeping safety in mind. Snags can also be created artificially during harvest. Mechanical harvesters can top trees up to 20 feet or so, and so can create a snag out of a tree with a defect down low but a merchantable top. The second best option, if you cannot safely cut the tree up high, is to fell the tree and leave the defective portion in the woods where wildlife will use it. Now it has become “downed wood.”
Just a few days after the workshop, I was out visiting with a landowner near Rainier. A small harvest had just been completed, and the logger had left a big, defective log alongside the unit (shown in photo below). The owner wondered, could it have been sold as a pulp log? Should she see if someone wanted it for firewood? I suggested that the log was already providing value, and probably more than what might have ended up in her wallet from these potential uses. Downed wood is used for cover, travel corridors, breeding spaces, and are especially important for amphibians such as newts.
The naturally regenerated alder in the background had come in after a harvest that had left little to no wood on the ground. The foreground will soon be planted back to conifers, which will take decades to reach a size that will provide a new source of snags or downed wood. By carrying over some downed wood like the log in the photo from one forest generation to the next, you can ensure some continuity of these wildlife-friendly habitat elements. Consider not disturbing down logs that are already in your forest – they are playing an important role, and besides, your equipment may take a beating if you try to move them or run them over!
Have you created or left snags or downed wood on your property? Do you have evidence of wildlife using these structures? I would like to create a photo gallery. Send me a photo of dead wood in your forest with a description of how it came to be or who you think is using it. If I get enough responses, I’ll share them all in a future article.
Oregon Forest Resources Institute is sponsoring a “Bat Chat”, Saturday May 5th at 1 pm at the World Forestry Center in Portland. The speakers will feature how wildlife biologists, researchers and land managers can work together to leave and create bat habitat on the landscape. Of interest to those interested in enhancing bat habitat on their land and to bat lovers in general. Click here for the details.
The Oregon Women Owning Woodlands Network has a full schedule of events coming up including a couple locally. These programs are a great way to meet other land owners and get tips for your own property, all in a friendly and informal setting. To learn more about WOWnet, visit the Facebook page. To RSVP for any of the events listed below, contact Anne Walton at anne_zenafarms@yahoo.com.
Trail Building – Saturday, March 10, 9 – noon. 3940 NW Owl Drive, Forest Grove
Hosts: Joan Moss/Peter Bours with Jerri O’Brien
See the work done by these landowners in building walking and access trails throughout their property. Jerri O’Brien, Master Woodland Manager, Benton County, will share her training and tools in trail building as well.
Truffle/Sustainability Tour, Friday, March 30, 9 am – 1 pm, Left Coast Cellars, 4225 N. Pacific Hwy, Rickreall
Host: Luke McCollum, Farm manager/winemaker, Left Coast Cellars
Take a hike with Luke through the beautiful property at Left Coast Cellars and see their sustainable management practices in action, their oak savanna restoration area, plus their unique trials in growing the European Black truffle. Enjoy additional information and a delicious lunch/tasting, with the chance to network with our group in their lovely cafe. We filled this tour in February so are offering it again! Husbands and friends are welcome. Make a day of visiting the beautiful Eola-Amity Hills area. $15/lunch/tasting flight offered.
Interpreting a Timber Cruise, Saturday, April 14, 9 am – noon, 30151 NW Timber Rd., Timber
Hosts: Pam and Peter Hayes with Curt Rogers and Todd Balsiger, of Coastline Forestry Consultants
We will gather in the cabin at Hyla Woods to learn what a cruise report tells you about your timber. We will tour the property to compare what is in a cruise report to what you see on the ground. This is a follow up field trip to our January class.
Managing your Property for Wildlife, Thursday April 26, 9 am – noon, Douglas County location TBA
Program by Nicole Strong, OSU Extension Service
As a follow up to an article I included in last winter’s newsletter, here’s a story from OSU’s Terra magazine about some research on the effectiveness of beaver relocation projects. In theory, relocating beavers from areas where they are a nuisance to areas where they could contribute to habitat restoration could benefit all involved (including, presumably, the beavers themselves). Do relocated beavers stay put? Do they actually help create fish habitat in their new homes? Read the blog post, or listen to a short podcast.
