Year 1 - Implications of Landscape Composition and Pattern in Managed Sub-Boreal Forests
Project Reference Number: 2004-06
Project Status: Complete
Led by: Doug Steventon, Wildlife Habitat Ecologist, Ministry of Forests and Range, Smithers
Research Assistance: Ardea Biological Consulting, Smithers
Funded by: Forestry Investment Account - Forest Sciences Program (Y05-1053)
In spring of 2004, Doug Steventon initiated a project designed to investigate the response of two interior-forest dependent wildlife species to varying amounts and patterns of harvesting in the Nadina District. Marten and northern flying-squirrel are sensitive to fragmentation – they typically avoid edges and clearcuts and would probably benefit from greater aggregation of harvested areas that leaves larger areas of mature-old forest intact. Modelling is used to predict habitat occupancy under a range of harvesting conditions, and live trapping will field-test habitat occupancy predictions, with emphasis on reproductive-age females.