Wildlife Trees and Management Quiz

Wildlife and Danger Tree Classification

• Wildlife trees are a crucial part of ecosystems, providing habitat for animals and contributing to biodiversity.
• Wildlife tree management began in BC in 1985.
• This management is complex due to its overlap with human safety concerns.
• The aim is to conserve wildlife trees and associated stand-level biodiversity efficiently in forests, parks, and urban environments.
• The Forest and Range Practices Act (FRPA) and the Wildlife Act prohibit damaging, altering, or destroying land set aside for wildlife.
• In BC, roughly 15% of birds, mammals, and amphibians depend on wildlife trees for food and shelter.
• Examples of animals relying on wildlife trees include woodpeckers, nuthatches, owls, wood ducks, martens, fishers, flying squirrels, and black bears.
• Snags, deciduous trees, and large veteran trees are vital wildlife tree habitat features.

What is a Wildlife Tree?

• Wildlife trees are standing, dead, or live trees with features providing valuable habitat for wildlife conservation and enhancement.
• Wildlife tree formation occurs through various life and decay stages, often influenced by biotic and abiotic factors such as insects, fire, fungi, and weather.
• Tree mortality factors include wound decays (saprophytes, heart rots, etc.), stem and bark diseases, bark beetles, defoliators, insects, diseases, and abiotic factors like wind, frost, lightning, snow, and fire.

Wildlife Tree Attributes

• Key characteristics of wildlife trees include natural cavities, chimneys, cavity excavation and feeding holes, heart rot, loose bark, forks and branching, dead/spike tops, snags, and witches' brooms.
• Natural cavities are created by natural disturbances like wind or ice. Chimneys are formed by fire or rot.
• Primary cavity excavation is done by birds like woodpeckers, nuthatches, and chickadees.
• Secondary cavity excavation is sometimes done by other animals using existing cavities.
• Other attributes include heart rot, loose bark, snags, dead/broken tops.

Ecological Values

• Wildlife trees support approximately 25% of all forest-dwelling terrestrial vertebrates in BC.
• They are crucial habitat for a wide variety of species, influencing local biodiversity.

Wildlife Tree Species Support Elements

• Wildlife trees support fungi, plants, invertebrates, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. They are an integral part of the ecosystem.

Wildlife Tree Uses

• Various species use wildlife trees for nesting, feeding, communication (drumming/marking), roosting, shelter, and overwintering.

Ranking Wildlife Trees

• The value of a wildlife tree depends on its characteristics and the user's needs. Most valuable trees typically have high free height, diameter, decay stage, location, and mortality.
• Native species are generally more valuable. Examples include Douglas-fir, Western Larch, Ponderosa pine, trembling aspen, cottonwood, cedars, hemlocks, and true firs.
• Important characteristics include height (greater than 15 m), diameter, decay stage, and location (topographical). Distribution and tree mortality factors are also important.

Danger Trees

• A danger tree is a tree present in areas where people are operating or recreating, exhibiting unstable characteristics and potentially posing a hazard.
• Assessing danger is done by qualified assessors.
• Dangerous characteristics can result from location/lean, physical damage, overhead condition, and deterioration of limbs, stem, or root systems. Specific indicators include dead, broken, cracked or forked tops, lightning scars, large dead limbs, broken branches, large cankers, split trunks, extensive rot, and damaged/exposed root systems.

Common Management Options

• Retaining trees is preferable if possible..
• Mitigating risk through no-work zones or removal of hazardous parts may be needed.
• Establishing wildlife tree reserves is a beneficial option for conservation.