Green Horizons

A stump covered with nutshells is evidence that a forest is more than growing trees. And while many landowners concentrate wildlife habitat management on open areas or fields, here are a couple of simple practices that create habitat for both game and non-game wildlife in hardwood stands.

Mast Production
Hard mast refers to nuts of hickory, pecan, walnut and oak. This food source is readily eaten by several wildlife species like deer, turkey, squirrels and black bear. But, in some cases, the trees may not produce nuts on a consistent basis. You can improve this by focusing some timber management on identifying those tree species that have the capability to produce large mast crops.

For the oaks, scout your woods for a couple of years because acorns are an erratic crop. Oaks tend to be cyclic; having good and poor production years, and bad years due to late frosts that kill the flowers. Populations of squirrels and acorn-eating insects vary from year to year, thereby obscuring acorn production.

At the same time, evaluate the trees for their potential as a future timber tree. Oftentimes you will find both qualities in the same tree because good mast-producing trees are found in the main canopy of the forest and have fairly well-developed crowns. The same large crown capable of producing nuts is also capable of producing more wood compared to a smaller-crowned tree.

Releasing hard mast-producing trees will not only produce more nuts and acorns, but also more wood.

During this evaluation phase, it is always good to have a mixture of both red and white oak species. Wildlife prefer the sweeter tasting white oak acorns over red oak acorns, but red oak produce acorns on a more consistent basis.

Let’s not forget the other hard mast-producing species. If they reside in your woodland, leave some hickory, pecan and walnut to provide variety. After you have identified these good trees, make sure they have plenty of room to grow. One of the best methods of giving them room to grow is by using a crown touching release, or removal of all the trees, on all sides, that are touching the crown or competing with the crown of the mast-producing tree.

Soft mast refers to the fleshy fruits and berries of species like black cherry, dogwood, serviceberry, hackberry, persimmon and black gum. Most times, these species are isolated occurrences in the forest. Unless they are competing with the better hard mast trees you previously identified, they can be left to add even more variety.

Poison-ivy, Virginia creeper and wild grape can also be valuable soft mast producers if they are not interfering with your prime timber trees. Relegate these species to edges where the forest meets the field and amongst trees with no timber value. This is because these vines seek maximum sunlight and will climb up in the tree canopy, severely reduce tree growth, deform the tree’s crown, and, in most cases, eventually kill the tree.

Wildlife Openings
Openings created through timber harvesting will provide dense shrub and small tree habitat for 10 to 15 years before the dominant species close up the overhead canopy and most of the shrubs and small trees are gone. During the initial phase of regeneration there will be a significant amount of browse for deer. If they exist in your area, ruffed grouse and American woodcock will use this habitat for brood rearing and feeding. Non-game species, like indigo buntings, will find this a favorite hangout.

For wildlife management, these openings should be small: one-quarter to one or one and one-half acres. All merchantable trees should be harvested. Valuable species should be allowed to resprout and regenerate high-quality stems; do not apply any herbicide to the cut stump. Herbicides should be used to kill out all remaining trees of unwanted species down to two inches in diameter.

Group openings, whether created by Mother Nature or man, provide food and cover for many wildlife species.

The size of your woodland and what the surrounding land is used for can have potentially devastating results for nontarget wildlife and exotic pests.

If you are creating openings in a forest covering hundreds of acres, the openings have little effect on area-sensitive wildlife species, like some songbirds. However, if your woodland is small and surrounded by agriculture, blue jays, rat snakes, raccoons, and other nest predators can easily find songbird nests. Also, brown-headed cowbirds can easily locate the nest of other songbirds and lay their eggs in the nest. Their young grow faster, get more food, and out-compete the other songbirds, resulting in a net decrease in the desirable songbirds. Openings in forests in highly fragmented environments (woodland ‘islands’ in a ‘sea’ of agriculture and urban development) are very susceptible to invasion by alien or exotic plants. Invasive and undesirable tree species like autumnolive and woody shrubs like bush honeysuckle lose no time in establishing themselves in these openings.