 Partners: Pandion Ecological Research Ltd with Parks Canada and FRBC Wildlife trees are those standing live and dead trees used by wildlife for nesting, denning, roosting and feeding. Approximately 90 species of vertebrates in BC, about 60 in the Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks area, are dependent on wildlife trees. These species include cavity-nesting and cavity-excavating birds, open nesters such as herons, raptors and owls, tree-denning mammals such as squirrels, chipmunks, weasels, marten and black bears; and tree roosting mammals such as bats. Wildlife trees tend to be the largest available with defects or diseases required to make them valuable to wildlife. For example, species such as pileated woodpeckers use large diameter trees with heart rot to facilitate nest excavation, while other species use fungi and wood-decay insects in dying or dead trees for food. Wildlife tree habitat may be significantly reduced in young managed forests. In Europe and some parts of the US, loss of wildlife tree habitat has resulted in extirpation and endangerment of many species. In this area, the former, predominantly old-growth forests would be expected to provide an abundance of wildlife tree habitat. This ongoing project includes an evaluation of differences in wildlife tree habitat between old-growth and second-growth, between upland and riparian zones, and between managed and unmanaged forests. [Back to Research Highlights] |
