Many of us have seen pictures or watched videos of Gray Wolves and Grizzly Bears fighting each other for a recently killed prey animal...............But to watch a Bald Eagle in Washington State's San Juan Island swoop in on a Red Fox and attempt to steal his(her) freshly killed rabbit is truly a must-see action sequence(click on link below to view).............Amazingly, the Eagle claws the rabbit in its talons lifting it and the fox high into the air-----------The Fox refuses to yield his "rabbit dinner" to the Eagle and withstands being flung to the ground(unharmed), albeit losing its rabbit prey to the Eagle............."Though the bald eagle’s diet is made up mainly of fish, they aren't choosy when seafood is in short supply"............."They'll eat birds, turtles, small mammals, carrion, and even pick off vulnerable chicks from an unguarded nest"............."Their kleptoparasitic habits are widely known (Benjamin Franklin even recognised their reputation as food thieves), so it's not all that surprising to witness one robbing a fox of it's rabbit"

CLICK ON LINK AND THEN SCROLL TO BOTTOM OF ARTICLE TO VIEW THE VIDEO OF THE  BALD EAGLE "CAGE-MATCH" WITH A RED FOX OVER A RABBIT KILL
https://www.earthtouchnews.com/natural-world/predator-vs-prey/watch-bald-eagle-and-fox-tussle-over-rabbit-carcass-in-mid-air-battle

WATCH: Bald eagle and fox tussle over rabbit carcass in mid-air battle

WATCH: Bald eagle and fox tussle over rabbit carcass in mid-air battle

by: Ian Dickinson, May 25, 2018

On a recent trip to Washington’s San Juan Island, wildlife photographer, Kevin Ebi, trained his lens on a fox kit as it proudly paraded across the prairie – a freshly killed rabbit dangling from its jaws. It’s not unusual for foxes on the northwest island to prey on rabbits if nothing else is available; in fact, many believe that the carnivores were introduced to the area for the specific purpose of eradicating the invasive lagomorphs.

As Ebi panned his camera to keep pace with the kit, he heard the shrill call of a bald eagle and suspected that the sighting was about to get more dramatic. While working on his book, The Year of the Eagle, Ebi gleaned extensive knowledge of the two-toned raptors and knew that this bird was likely after an easy meal. Handsome, commanding and deadly – bald eagles are just about the embodiment of avian majesty, yet the skilled predators often resort to stealing meals from other hunters, rather than expending energy pursing prey.

“I intently trained my camera on the fox bracing for a split second of action,” Ebi wrote on his blog. “To my surprise, the scene was even more dramatic than I expected.” Just as the fox turned to assess the aerial threat, the eagle swooped, sinking its talons into the prized quarry and lifting it into the air with the kit still desperately clinging on.

“I thought the eagle would scare the fox into dropping its dinner,” the photographer explained to National Geographic. For a few tense seconds, raptor and fox tussled in the air for possession of the prey, before the kit admitted defeat, let go and was flung back to the ground.

Fortunately for the fox, the airborne battle did not result in injury and it quickly resumed playing with its fellow kits. ”I took several pictures of it after the ordeal and couldn’t find a single scratch,” writes Ebi.

Though the bald eagle’s diet is made up mainly of fish, they aren't choosy when seafood is in short supply. They'll eat birds, turtles, small mammals, carrion, and even pick off vulnerable chicks from an unguarded nest. Their kleptoparasitic habits are widely known (Benjamin Franklin even recognised their reputation as food thieves), so it's not all that surprising to witness one robbing a fox of it's rabbit, however, capturing the action on camera is a rare treat.

“I don't know that I'll ever see anything quite that dramatic again,” says Ebi.

"In Inuit culture, a polar bear remains a deeply respected animal, called Nanuk in the Inuktitut language, and getting one is considered the mark of a great hunter"............"Despite vanishing sea ice and shorter, milder winters, Labrador’s polar bear population is actually growing – which means a bigger harvesting quota for Inuit hunters"..........."There are more than 2,500 polar bears in the vast coastal area that includes Labrador and northern Quebec, according to Environment Canada – far more than was expected earlier in the millennium – and further signs the bears continue to rebound despite the impacts of climate change"............"The reason, biologists suspect, is the boom in the harp seal population"............. "As Newfoundland’s seal fishery has collapsed under international pressure, the harp seals of the north-west Atlantic have proliferated"............... "They now number about 7.4 million animals – more then seven times the population in the 1970s----and therefore, providing more "protein" for the Labrador Polar Bears than anytime in recent memory"

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/24/canada-polar-bears-labrador-rigolet-seal-hunt&ct=ga&cd=CAEYASoTNjg2NDEyMzk3Mzc4MTkzNTA1MDIaYjUwMzM4NzJmY2U5ZjU5OTpjb206ZW46VVM&usg=AFQjCNFtVle7m02ly4a3Xr2W61ugFQcT1Q

'They're everywhere': has the decline of the seal hunt saved the polar bear?

Despite vanishing sea ice and shorter winters, Labrador’s polar bear population is among the healthiest in the world – and it could be thanks to the harp seals

There are over 2,500 polar bears in the coastal area that includes Labrador and northern Quebec, according to Environment Canada. Photograph: Danita Delimont/Getty Images/Gallo Images

Guido Rich, 28, an Inuit hunter from Rigolet, Labrador, brings his Ski-Doo to a careful stop on the sea ice, mindful of the precious cargo it hauls: the body of an 800lb male polar bear. It takes Rich and two other men to roll the animal off the sled and on to the ice, while his wife and young children watch.

His sister, Natasha Pottle, who shot the bear the night before, hands her brother the plastic bags used to store liver, hair and fat samples that will be sent away for lab testing. The animal will provide valuable information for Labrador’s biologists, a small windfall for his family and meat for the community. Rich has barely begun cutting into the hide when a parade of people from the village start arriving to take pictures, offer observations or just watch respectfully.

 In Inuit culture, a polar bear remains a deeply respected animal, called Nanuk in the Inuktitut language, and getting one is considered the mark of a great hunter. Photograph: Image Broker / Rex Features

“When you get a bear, everyone in town knows it,” Rich said.

Scenes like this are being repeated up and down the rugged, remote coast this year. Despite vanishing sea ice and shorter, milder winters, Labrador’s polar bear population is actually growing – which means a bigger harvesting quota for Inuit hunters.

There are more than 2,500 polar bears in the vast coastal area that includes Labrador and northern Quebec, according to Environment Canada – far more than was expected earlier in the millennium – and further signs the bears continue to rebound despite the impacts of climate change.

Indeed, although scientists and Inuit sometimes clash over the estimates, the polar bear population of coastal Labrador is among the healthiest in the world.

“When I grew up, a polar bear was kind of this mythical creature because you didn’t see them very often. You didn’t hear tell of people seeing them,” said Jim Goudie, wildlife manager for Nunatsiavut, the regional indigenous self-government.

“This abundance of polar bears is not something my father’s generation grew up with. It’s only since the mid-80s there’s been the boom. Now there’s polar bears everywhere.”

The reason, biologists suspect, is the boom in the harp seal population. As Newfoundland’s seal fishery has collapsed under international pressure, the harp seals of the north-west Atlantic have proliferated. They now number about 7.4 million animals – more then seven times the population in the 1970s.

“They jumped on the harp seal boom,” Goudie said. “They appear to have adapted for this moment in time … We’re seeing them further south than in the past.”

Animal rights activists and Inuit clash over Canada's Indigenous food traditions

 

Read more

Labrador’s Inuit have hunted polar bears for thousands of years. But only recently have they been able to so carefully monitor and protect the population, thanks to a unique, indigenous-run conservation program managed by Nunatsiavut.

The bear shot by Pottle was one of 12 killed by Inuit hunters this season under Nunatsiavut’s quota system, which doles out bear hunting licences through a lottery. A hunter has one week to get a bear before the licence expires and is transferred to another person. Only Inuit residents can apply for a licence, and it’s illegal to sell a licence to a big game hunter who is not from the region.

In Inuit culture, a polar bear remains a deeply respected animal, called Nanuk in the Inuktitut language, and getting one is still considered the mark of a great hunter. The harvest remains such an important part of local tradition that it has its own statute in Nunatsiavut’s land claim with the federal government.

But Pottle isn’t putting on any airs. Shooting her first polar bear was a terrifying experience, she said.

“I was scared,” she said. “It was intense. We chased the tracks out on to the ice and there he was. Then our Ski-Doo stalled and he started coming toward us. That’s when I started calling for my brother.

"Coyotes now live across North America, from Alaska to Panama, California to Maine"................. "But where they came from, and when, has been debated for decades"............ "Using museum specimens and fossil records, researchers from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and North Carolina State University have produced a comprehensive (and unprecedented) range history(maps below) of the expanding species that can help reveal the ecology of predation as well as evolution through hybridization"................"Coyotes historically had a wide distribution, primarily in the western half of the continent” prior to European contact, with unknown range limits but extending at least as far east as southern Wisconsin, northwestern Indiana, western Arkansas, and central Texas"

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180522114626.htm&ct=ga&cd=CAEYACoUMTQzOTAwMzIxNjUwMTA4MzMzNTEyGjI5OGRhMGI0Mzc5N2FiZmI6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNH0qP1lgU3rp7trN9CxGW1bUBfTBg

1. CLICK ON THIS doi link to read full research article
2.  DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.759.15149

How coyotes conquered the continent

Date:

May 22, 2018

Source:

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

southern California Coyote reacting to a wildlife

camera on tree

The geographic distribution of coyotes has dramatically expanded since 1900, spreading across much of North America in a period when most other mammal species have been declining. Although this unprecedented expansion has been well documented at the state/provincial scale, the continent-wide picture of coyote spread was coarse and largely anecdotal. A more thorough compilation of available records was needed. "We began by mapping the original range of coyotes using archeological and fossil records," says co-author Dr. Roland Kays, Head of the Museum's Biodiversity Lab and Research Associate Professor in NC State's Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources. "We then plotted their range expansion across North America from 1900 to 2016 using museum specimens, peer-reviewed reports, and game department records." In all, Kays and lead author James Hody reviewed more than 12,500 records covering the past 10,000 years for this study.

Their findings indicate that coyotes historically occupied a larger area of North America than generally suggested in the literature. Previous maps, as it turns out, had ancient coyotes only located across the central deserts and grasslands. However, fossils from across the arid west link the distribution of coyotes from 10,000 years ago to specimens collected in the late 1800s, proving that their geographic range was not only broader but had been established for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, which also contradicts some widely-cited descriptions of their historical distribution.

It wasn't until approximately 1920 that coyotes began their expansion across North America. This was likely aided by an expansion of human agriculture, forest fragmentation, and hybridization with other species. Eastern expansion in particular was aided by hybridization with wolves and dogs, resulting in size and color variation among eastern coyotes.

Before too long, coyotes may no longer be just a North American species. Kays notes that coyotes are continually expanding their range in Central America, crossing the Panama Canal in 2010. Active camera traps are now spotting coyotes approaching the Darien Gap, a heavily forested region separating North and South America, suggesting that they are at the doorstep of South America.

"The expansion of coyotes across the American continent offers an incredible experiment for assessing ecological questions about their roles as predators, and evolutionary questions related to their hybridization with dogs and wolves," adds Hody. "By collecting and mapping these museum data we were able to correct old misconceptions of their original range, and more precisely map and date their recent expansions.

"We hope these maps will provide useful context for future research into the ecology and evolution of this incredibly adaptive carnivore."

Coyote Range as of the year 1900

Ranges are based on occurrence of museum specimens, peer-reviewed literature with associated specimens or photographs, and reports from state game departments. The distribution of coyotes between the Yucatán Peninsula and Nicaragua is coarsely depicted due to the paucity of available data, representing the earliest confirmed occurrence.

Credit: James Hody

Comparison of Holocene coyote range maps, pre-expansion. Fossil and zooarchaeological remains suggest that coyotes were distributed throughout western North America prior to European colonization, contrary to widely-cited accounts (e.g., Parker 1995).

---

Historical distribution of coyotes from 10,000 years before present (BP) to 1899. Zooarchaeological (FAUNMAP) records document the distribution of coyotes during the Holocene (0–10,000 BP).

Coyote range expansion by decade, 1900–2016. Ranges are based on occurrence of museum specimens, peer-reviewed literature with associated specimens or photographs, and reports from state wildlife management agencies. The distribution of coyotes between the Yucatán Peninsula and Nicaragua is coarsely depicted due to the paucity of available data, representing the earliest confirmed occurrence. All referenced materials are listed in Suppl. material 

Story Source:

Materials provided by North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

---

Journal Reference:

1. James W. Hody, Roland Kays. Mapping the expansion of coyotes (Canis latrans) across North and Central America. ZooKeys, 2018; 759: 81
2. 
   
3. CLICK ON THIS doi link to read full research article
4.  DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.759.15149

"Six million square kilometres — 32.8 per cent — of protected land around the globe is under intense human pressure from threats including more roads, cities, farms and railways".............Canada is doing a far better job of protecting its open space and the Province of Alberta just protected another 13,600 square kilometers adjacent to Woods Buffalo Provincial Park........."With this purchase of land, Alberta is now home to the largest area of protected boreal forest in the world"................The trick now will be for Alberta to minimize the industrial pressures(dams/mining/forestry/tar sands) adjacent to its open space so as to optimize biological diversity

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/protected-areas-human-stress-1.4667734

Study suggests one-third of protected wildlife areas under intense human stress

Canada's protected areas in 'much better condition,' B.C. researcher says

Thomson Reuters · Posted: May 17, 2018 

A third of the world's protected areas for wildlife are suffering road-building, more farms and other man-made threats that are undermining goals to safeguard the diversity of life on Earth, scientists said on Thursday.

The world's largest beaver dam in Wood Buffalo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Though efforts have increased globally to designate more protected areas, a new study suggests that humans are still encroaching on them. (Parks Canada)

Almost 200 nations agreed in 2010 to set aside at least 17 per cent of the world's land areas in parks and other sanctuaries by 2020 as a cornerstone of a plan to shield animals and plants from pollution, land clearances and climate change.

But many protected areas fall short, according to a report in the journal Science, led by researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia.

"Six million square kilometres — 32.8 per cent — of protected land is under intense human pressure," from threats including more roads, cities, farms and railways, the scientists wrote.

The good news, however, is that Canada's protected areas are faring far better.

"The study is generally a good news story for Canada," co-author Oscar Venter, a professor and research chair at the University of Northern British Columbia's Ecosystem Science and Management Program told CBC News. "In Canada it's just not that at all; we're at just 2.5 per cent.

"Our parks are in much better condition than the global average. And really, from the perspective of human pressures, our parks have been managed extremely well."

That's not to say we don't have our issues. Venter noted that, while this week's announcement that Alberta's Wood Buffalo National Park has been broadened make it the world's largest protected boreal forest, external pressures threaten biodiversity within the park itself.

In the case of Wood Buffalo, the W.A.C Bennett Dam and the Site C Dam, both in B.C., can strip water from the park in an area that's the only mating ground for the endangered whooping crane.

"Inside the park there aren't major pressures, but outside the park, these things like altered river flows because of dams are affecting the parks, as well as oil sands," Venter said.

"It's a good thing that we do expand parks to reach these targets, but we need to look at ecological integrity," Venter said.

'Paper parks'

The global area that is facing pressure is roughly equal to the size of India and Argentina combined. Mangroves, Mediterranean forests, some grasslands and savannahs were among protected areas most at risk.

James Watson, a professor at the University of Queensland and study co-author, told Reuters he was "stunned" by the data. "Governments are claiming these places are protected for the sake of nature when in reality they aren't," he said.

Overall, governments say the extent of protected lands has roughly doubled since the early 1990s and now covers 15 per cent of the world's land in more than 200,000 protected areas, the study said.

Among examples of threats, the study showed satellite images of Kamianets-Podilskyi, a growing city within a national park in Ukraine, roads slicing through Mikumi National Park in Tanzania, and farms and other buildings in Dadohaehaesang national park in South Korea.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which oversees the 2020 plan, said it hoped Thursday's findings would spur more action to ensure that protected areas exist in more than name.

"There is indeed a risk for protected areas to be misrepresented as paper parks," Cristiana Pasca Palmer, executive secretary of the CBD, told Reuters in an email.

Among recommendations, countries should improve assessment and management of protected areas, and try where possible to connect them so threatened species can migrate.

Venter said that he was surprised and disappointed by the group's findings overall.

"I never thought we'd see such extensive pressure," he said.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wood Buffalo National Park has been broadened

Alberta now has world's largest expanse of protected boreal forest

The conservation area is twice the size of Vancouver Island

David Thurton · CBC News · Posted: May 15, 2018 

This wetland in Birch Mountain will form part of the world's largest area of protected boreal forest.(Submitted/ABMI)

Alberta is now home to the largest area of protected boreal forest in the world, following an announcement Tuesday that set aside more than 13,600 square kilometres of land across much of northeast Alberta.

The provincial and federal governments, the Tallcree First Nation, oilsands giant Syncrude and the Nature Conservancy of Canada announced the creation of new protected areas at a news conference in Edmonton.

"It is very rare that you can announce a protected area network that is globally significant in such incredible size," said Bob Demulder, the NCC's regional vice-president for the Alberta region. "These things don't happen very often."

The province will formally establish four new parks — Kazan, Richardson, Dillon River and Birch River — and expand the Birch Mountains Wildland Provincial Park.

All of the parks, except Dillon River, border on Wood Buffalo National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site.

The map above shows the four new parks (in red) announced on Tuesday. (CBC GRAPHICS)

The creation of all but one of the parks was announced in 2012 but never enacted, said Matt Dykstra, press secretary to the minister of the environment and parks.

Together with Wood Buffalo National Park and the existing and new parks, the protected land will form a conservation area of 67,735 square kilometres, almost twice the size of Vancouver Island.

The area will be off limits to logging and other industries, such as oilsands development.

First Nation and industry seal the deal

The Birch River park was created after complicated agreements between the Alberta and federal governments, the Tallcree First Nation and the NCC.

The Tallcree tribal government agreed to relinquish a timber quota it had no intention of using, which was then purchased by the NCC for $2.8 million, with Syncrude providing the majority of the funding.

"After 60 years, Isle Royale(Michigan) continues to be the site of the world's longest predator-prey study"..............."With only two wolves remaining alive, The Royale research team estimates the moose population to be around 1,475 members"..........."Historically, prior to the crash of the Wolf population, Moose numbered between 700 and 1,200 animals"............. "The National Park Service has proposed introducing 20-30 wolves to the island over the next three years so as to optimize both plant and animal biodiversity there"............"The final environmental impact statement was completed and the identified preferred alternative is to restore wolf predation, but the final decision on the plan is pending as of the Winter Study report publication"

From: Leah Vucetich ;lmvuceti@mtu.edu
Date: May 17, 2018 at 6:08:32 AM EDT
To: ", isleroyalewolfmoose-;isleroyalewolfmoose-l@mtu.edu
Subject: [isleroyalewolfmoose-l] 2017-2018 Ecological Study of Wolves on Isle Royale

Hello, Friends.

The 2017-2018 Ecological Study of Wolves on Isle Royale is now available for download here.

Thank you for your continued interest and support!

Rolf &John

At the moment, the last two Wolves left on Royale

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-05/mtu-tir051518.php   

17-May-2018

After 60 years, Isle Royale continues world's longest predator-prey study

Researchers from Michigan Technological University have released the annual Winter Study report detailing updates on the ecology of Isle Royale National Park. For the third year in a row, the Isle Royale wolf population remains a mere two, while the moose population continues to stay above the historic average. Without the pressure of predation, the expanding moose population will have a greater impact on the island's forest ecology.

The study co-authors include Research Professor Rolf Peterson, Professor John Vucetich and Assistant Research Professor Sarah Hoy. They say the heart of the study's success has been the more than 1,000 citizen science volunteers who have bolstered the study's fieldwork efforts in small teams totaling about 40 people each year for the last 30 years. Together, they helped gather enough skulls to document the shrinking moose of Isle Royale, observe seasonal wolf activity and earned more than their fair share of hiking boot blisters.

In terms of population trends, little changed on the island this past year. As Peterson, Vucetich and Hoy write in the report about the last male-female pair of wolves, "there was no evidence of any change in their status, except they are older by a year."

The pair are closely related--both as siblings and as father-daughter--and the inbreeding within the island's isolated wolf population is what contributed to their demise. The wolves' numbers started plummeting in 2009, declining by 88 percent from 24 to 2 wolves for that period; historical levels of wolves typically varied between 18 and 27. The pair, aged eight and ten years old, may have produced a pup several years ago but the female has continued to reject the male as a mate.

One meager hope for new wolves formed briefly in early February. For almost a week, an ice bridge connected the island to the Ontario mainland. However, the ice conditions were rough, the bridge did not last long, and the researchers found no evidence of wolves crossing over. With fewer ice bridges and warmer winters, the chances of wolves recovering naturally is slim to none.

As the wolf population declined and forage remained abundant, the moose population has been able to expand. Counting conditions for the past two winters have not been ideal, but the team estimates the moose population to be around 1,475 members. The population usually numbers between 700 and 1,200 moose. Hoy, who led the skull size study of the island's moose that found their size decreased by 16 percent over 40 years, says we are observing a population in transition.

"Although the effects on body size are quite subtle, there was a marked decline in lifespan over the study period," she says, explaining that wolves are not the only factor affecting moose. The changes in both populations impact the rest of the island, particularly balsam fir, which is a staple winter food for moose. "Maybe the trees can withstand one major source of stress, but with the lack of predation and a changing climate, can it withstand two or more?"

Peterson, who has been a part of the Isle Royale research for the past 50 years, says the island is a unique place to study moose and wolves. Unlike big, complex spaces like Yellowstone, where the cascading effects of wolf populations are still debated among scientists, Isle Royale is a neatly contained ecosystem that can provide insight into other Northwoods settings.

"This is the perfect environment to observe predator-prey interactions--but doesn't make it easy," he says. "We anticipate big things are about to happen, with wolf predation restored, that will once again change the direction of the island's ecosystem. It might take a long time to see the full impact of those changes."

The National Park Service has proposed introducing 20-30 wolves to the island over the next three years. The final environmental impact statement was completed and the identified preferred alternative is to restore wolf predation, but the final decision on the plan is pending as of the Winter Study report publication.

"Cutting down trees to help birds sounds heretical"................"And the science clearly shows that intact forests are critical for interior-nesting species like Worm-eat­ing and Cerulean Warblers, and Scarlet Tanagers"............"Ample research has docu­mented the hazards to these birds when the woods become fragmented, such as more pressure from so-called edge predators like raccoons and opossums"............."But early successional forests—those dense, tangled thickets of young sap­lings, fruit-bearing shrubs, and vines—represent some of the most-needed bird habitat today, and they are largely miss­ing from many landscapes"................"In presettle­ment times, young forests were spawned by natural sources of disturbance like windstorms, hurricanes, and fire that leveled standing trees and reset the suc­cessional clock".............."Then from the late 19th through the mid-20th centuries, after the waves of European settlement, land­scapes in the East and Midwest were full of old, abandoned farm fields and regen­erating clearcuts that provided millions of acres of early successional habitat for Chestnut-sided Warblers and box tur­tles, Field Sparrows and hognose snakes"..............."The Karner blue butterfly is just one of many shrubland butterflies that depend on early successional habitat".............."Today, the natural forces of fire and wind have been dampened by human intervention and the fragmented na­ture of the landscape, with a lot of land permanently cleared for farming and development"................"Much of the forest that remains is middle-aged with striking uniformity, and little of the structural complexity from layered understories, snags, and downed logs that promotes biodiversity"............"True “old-growth” forest that survived the 19th century logging boom accounts for a fraction of one per­cent of the landscape in the East"............"Crucial as young forests may be, though, biologists say they are only part of the equation"............."The best bird habitats contain a mix of forests both young and old".............."Variety—in this case, habitat vari­ety—is the spice of life for birds(and all wildife)"................ “If you don’t have a diversity of all forest age classes and structural con­ditions, whether for a Golden-winged Warbler, a Cerulean Warbler, Wood Thrush, you name it, you’re going to have less than optimal conditions for any of those species,” said Dr. Jeff Lar­kin, a wildlife ecologist at Indiana Uni­versity of Pennsylvania who has worked on forest management strategies for all three of those birds"............. “It’s the land­scape they evolved with, long before we mucked things up"

CLICK LINK TO READ FULL ARTICLE
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__r20.rs6.net_tn.jsp-3Ff-3D001oADDpUHcZFDuQFdb0m9mmE7WdZUjWBszErLx5WxT7ABu3inOmhqv9uEH8UN0fdpbZhjgMgFJkNE-5Fe-5F0BqzUez3vHAhY7m21FdTnGiTevn3TBk4e-2D4eFrv50D1gLeizH637CrBwVvuQ90Ub5w9mP2Tu-2DuD0FrHb4-5FMzKOSMcIea3X-2DorfUDEai6MeMp94OkGG5q96tq8ZG-2DRFCA8jvpcefPq-2DUPuppYvha1-5FKKlrQjByOt-5FvzyrvqKHjb1HFuetr6PG8iqTGXSS8-3D-26c-3D86QZ-2DCaw6iI8cpGEAYFg9ExM2OitiKo9KgBt8yM1dFAhIlYmB5-2DMQA-3D-3D-26ch-3DM94N88oIezjqd2gTa6-2D3VnLCPDXUYat76E0r3-5F17KubU2sz6R3pV4A-3D-3D&d=DwMFaQ&c=-SicqtCl7ffNuxX6bdsSog&r=-DxtnAHbuRRkyWQnoegVz79cCKJiYDnPm_QtmQKN7-I&m=oi6kWsq7VQ9z0QeHz7zrzBKCGRFtzylNJkVQXPJr6QA&s=jNAWGbWADr4vHtrVemeRymLP7zvro59VcZF4XEhmjEc&e=

Old-Growth Is Great, 

But Here’s Why We Need 

New-Growth Forests, Too

By Scott Weidensaul

8

March 28, 201

Landscapes with a mosaic of young and mature forest offer habitat for different birds at different stages. For example, Golden-winged Warblers nest in young forest but move their fledglings to older forest to feed on insects before their first migration. Meanwhile, Wood Thrushes nest in mature forest and move their fledglings to younger forest to feast on berries and fruits. Graphic by Bartels Science Illustrator Phillip Krzeminski.

.

Wood Thrushes (left) and Chestnut-sided Warblers (right) are suffering steep population declines. Though the thrush nests in mature forest, and the warbler in early successional habitat,  both use the same mosaic of habitat throughout the breeding season and need a mix of young and old to successfully raise their young and prepare them for their first migration. Wood Thrush by Bill Canosa; Chestnut-sided Warbler by Ray Hennessy.

Tangles of young shrubs interspersed with older trees create good habitat for the Golden-winged Warbler. Photo by Justin Fritscher/Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Large patches of high density shrubs and young trees connected to other patches of suitable habitat create an ideal home for many species of wildlife. Photo courtesy of USFWS.

The Great Thicket National Wildlife Refuge could eventually encompass 15,000 acres in parcels covering 6 states from New York to Maine. Yellow shading indicates focus areas identified in a 2016 environmental assessment by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Tap or click for larger image.