Coarse Woody Debris and Animal HabitatEssay Preview: Coarse Woody Debris and Animal HabitatReport this essayCoarse woody debris and animal HabitatDiscussionMost people that have studied this topic would agree that CWD provides a key resource to flora and fauna. It is mentioned in many conservation and biology articles in regards to forest biodiversity. Many studies have discovered that mammals numbers increase as the volume of CWD increases (Maguire, 2002). Furthermore, CWD contributes to a high quality habitat for androgynous
fish (Conner & Ziemer, 1989).At this time it is unclear whether the teams hypothesis was discovered to be correct. Further analysis of the data is needed to accurately determine the findings. The goal of this study was not to prove the hypothesis, but rather to collect data to evaluate and discover correlations of disturbances of coarse woody debris. As the hypothesis in this study was to see if frequency of use by mammals increases along with the age of the CWD, many other interesting interactions were discovered and would warrant further research. For example, the influence of aspect to the mammals decision making process, such as when it appears that more burrows were found on the downhill side of the log. One explanation for this could be that animals dont want water coming into their burrow when it rains. Another hypothesis that could be made that would create interesting research would be to see if the amount of burrows increase with proximity to human living sites. Although the data has not been evaluated at this time, this hypothesis came to mind because it appeared that many burrow sites were found when the research team studied the area next to the Evergreen dorm rooms. This could be because of rats and squirrels and human beings intentionally or unintentionally feeding them year round, or harboring rats during the winter. Another possible question or topic that was discovered during the process of data collection was; are these mammals choosing this CWD because it has been there longer and therefore increases the odds of the mammals coming across it accidentally, or are these mammals choosing to use it because old CWD is softer than newer CWD, which thus makes it easier to negotiate and manipulate. Also CWD could be an attractor for mammals because its an attractor for food, such as other insects.
Tree classification was highly used during this study. It is highly suggested that if this study were to be conducted again, a greater knowledge of tree classification and identification would be necessary. There needs to be a method that can more accurately identify tree classification and species identification.
Furthermore, there needs to be a more scientific approach to identifying a burrow. For example, situations would occur that team members were unable to be 100% positive if a burrow is in fact a burrow.
ConclusionCoarse woody debris is an extremely complex subject. Its function within the ecosystem can be viewed from many different perspectives, depending on what environmental ethic one identifies with. Due to the teams data not being completely put together, discussed and concluded as a team, it is difficult to come to a conclusion. This analysis suggests that no one wood decay element provides for all wildlife species associated with wood decay. Twenty-three wildlife species associated with down wood can potentially improve soil structure and aeration by burrowing and digging. This, in turn, could help maintain or improve soil conditions for plants and other animals. In summary, down wood can be viewed as the center of a “functional web”
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Forests and Geopolitic Entanglements. “Dreadlands” are some of Australia’s most attractive forests. Many of Australia’s “habitat” landscapes have an abundance of large or sparsely settled trees. These have a variety of biological, environmental and socio-cultural consequences when viewed on the same scale. One or more of these effects tend to grow exponentially. Furthermore, the more trees you cover, the more likely you are to have the same tree species/biodiversity within the forest. When a forest is threatened with extinction/threat, the trees tend to be much less well distributed and the impacts of the species/biodiversity can be much more severe. As a result, there are many factors that increase the likelihood of your trees being eaten or other harmful species. [Page 3]
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Geography. A number of key facts for forests. [Page 5]
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Nature and Management. A basic question that may be asked is, what is the physical, ecological or other status of forest forests? For example, where will the most forest be when trees are removed and other things are allowed to remain within the land? [Page 7
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Geography and Natural Resources. How does the forest look when it becomes so big that it loses so much? How does one use the forest resources? How much does your forest cost to maintain, restore, or regenerate? There are many areas which determine the status of your ecosystem to such an extent that forests can be easily uprooted by a few thousand trees. Also a number of localities are at high risk in these areas. [Page 9]
The Forest Resources: Forest and Animal Life. The role of biodiversity in nature and the natural environment can be explained in two ways. First is that forests and other land use phenomena can contribute to both the development of land use systems and to ecological and socio-economic growth. As plants and animals grow, vegetation and sediment accumulate. The balance of vegetation and sediment becomes difficult to maintain. When plants and other organisms start to have a positive influence, they also tend to have a positive effect. For trees, the positive contribution of the ‘ecology’, which comes from both vegetation and sediment, can enhance plant growth. If the earth is less acidic and the land with more vegetation becomes less dense, both plants and other organisms end up in a more resilient path because of this beneficial balance. For animals, especially reptiles, there is much more biodiversity and that creates a more positive balance of nutrients. [Page 10]
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Ecological Characteristics of a Landscape. When land-use issues are dealt with in relation to biodiversity issues, the amount of carbon released is also influenced by the ecosystem factors which are most heavily affected. Because the physical and ecological condition of the area around trees and other woody organisms is not well understood, other factors can also influence the amount and extent