Wildlife Management

Wildlife Management

Taxonomy Machine Name
sector_wildlife_management
Taxonomy Alias
wildlife_management
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Many dominant species in oak-pine forests are projected to remain stable or increase, including many oaks (black, chestnut, northern red, scarlet, and white), pines (pitch, shortleaf, and Virginia), American chestnut, and mockernut and pignut hickory.

Submitted by sdhandler on

Multiple forest impact models tend to agree that these species are likely to increase in suitable habitat and biomass under a range of future climate scenarios. Species projected to increase include American chestnut, black oak, chestnut oak, mockernut hickory, northern red oak, pignut hickory, pitch pine, scarlet oak, shortleaf pine, Virginia pine, and white oak. These species all tolerate relatively warm and dry conditions, however, extremes in heat or drought may exceed even the tolerances of pines and oaks.

Moderate increases in the frequency of drought and wildfire, particularly on hotter or drier sites, may favor pine species.

Submitted by sdhandler on

Many species are tolerant of drought or moisture stress, but may not tolerate more extreme or longer periods of moisture stress, especially during periods of hotter temperatures. A combination of hot days and low moisture is expected to exceed the tolerance of of sugar maple, aspen, and other associates for seedling establishment. Drought may also stress mature trees, leading to mortality of mesic species and shifting the species composition to oaks and pines.

Late summer and fall moisture deficits and prolonged higher temperatures may increase fire risk in central oak-pine forests, especially in places where vegetation dries or coarse woody debris accumulates from natural mortality or storm damage.

Submitted by sdhandler on

Low to moderate fire intensity may benefit oak and pine species, but high-intensity fire can be fatal to trees.Many species tolerate or are adapted to dry soil conditions and fire, although young trees may be sensitive to severe drought and high-intensity fire. A history of fire suppression and increasing shade in the forest understory has facilitated shifts to more mesic conditions in some places and has promoted northern hardwood species like red maple, American beech, and tulip tree.

Central oak-pine forests thrive across a variety of soil moisture tolerances and is expected to find micro-habitats and refugia in order to persist in some form on the landscape, increasing its adaptive capacity.

Submitted by sdhandler on

This diverse forest community occurs over a wide range of habitats and is widespread and common throughout the interior portion of the Mid-Atlantic region. In general, areas that are north-facing, at higher elevations, or are farther north in the region are expected to undergo less change compared to forests in warmer, drier, or more southerly locations, particularly where past land use, land development, fragmentation, invasive species, or other factors have already impaired the system.

Previous human influences, including fragmentation and fire suppression, may have reduced the adaptive capacity of some tidal swamps. Increased flooding may increase pollution, runoff, and discharge from farm land and concentrated animal feed lots.

Submitted by sdhandler on

River flow and hydrology in the coastal plain have been altered by channelization, road networks, development, and a variety of land use changes, and these changes may inhibit the expansion of wetlands in response to climate changes. Increased flooding may increase pollution, runoff, and discharge from farm land and concentrated animal feed lots.

Many species in tidal swamps are projected to increase or remain steady under climate change, including American elm, baldcypress, water tupelo, loblolly pine, green ash, and red maple.

Submitted by sdhandler on

Multiple forest impact models tend to agree that many tidal swamp species are likely to maintain or increase in suitable habitat and biomass during the 21st century. Green ash species is threatened by Emerald Ash Borer and is expected to decline significantly from the borer during the next several decades.

Short or longterm increases in salinity may cause stress or mortality of trees in tidal swamps, depending on the tolerances of individual species to salt and inundation.

Submitted by sdhandler on

As sea level rises, increasing salinity levels may interact with other stressors, and the salt tolerance of individual trees may factor into tree response. Of the dominant species in tidal swamp, only baldcypress and green ash are resistant to salt spray.

The combined effects of sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion due to spray and storm surge are expected to cause irreversible habitat loss in tidal swamps.

Submitted by sdhandler on

Rising sea levels are increasing storm surge and flooding, and this may become an even greater problem as storms become more frequent or severe.Shifting sands may alter soil characteristics, destabilize root systems, and cause erosion. Tidal forest that undergoes salinization exceeding its tolerance may be replaced by tidal marsh. However, shorelines are expected to recede as the sea level rises, resulting in the physical loss of land and habitat for this community type.