Resetting succession for wildlife

Resetting succession for wildlife. . , The primary goal of habitat enhancement is to return an area to an earlier successional stage, using methods such as tilling, mowing, rollerchopping, and prescribed fire., ① Maintaining bison habitat , Maintaining fields for bison use includes tilling, planting, and fertilizing crops that bison will eat such as oats, turnips, and grasses., Cleared grasslands eventually give way to woody shrubs if succession proceeds. The DJBR field complexes are managed to promote early successional species like grasses and sedges through a combination of mowing, tilling, and prescribed fire., Though bison forage in early successional fields, they also often use late successional spruce forests for cover., ② Rollerchopping forests , Since the establishment of the bison range, mechanical treatments such as crushing and rollerchopping have been used to improve habitat for moose and grouse species. Rollerchopping uses heavy equipment in winter to break trees off at the base, then chop resulting woody debris into smaller sections to quicken decomposition. Root systems that are preserved underground allow for accelerated regeneration of young trees., Older stands of aspen are rollerchopped to allow growth of young shoots. It only takes a couple years for young aspen to grow into accessible browse for moose. Bison strip leaves and eat stems of young aspen and willow shoots that emerge after older trees are disturbed. Sharp-tailed and ruffed grouse benefit from the diverse patchwork of aspen forest created by mechanical treatments., Rollerchopped spruce is used to create fuel breaks within mature spruce stands, giving fire staff a safer and more effective place to work. Fuel breaks can be used to help slow or stop the progression of a fire if needed., ③ Prescribed fire , Prescribed fire is used as a management tool to reset forest succession. Managing prescribed fires is complex and requires expert staff, but it can be more efficient and cost effective than mechanical habitat enhancement., Burning open fields stimulates the growth of grasses and sedges, and it top-kills woody shrubs like aspen and willow, which causes young shoots to regenerate from intact root systems. Bison and moose like to browse on this new growth, and both species of grouse need multiple stages of regrowth for breeding, nesting, forage, and cover. Burning spruce stands is intended to closely mimic wildfire and can result in a variety of early successional plant communities., Effective prescribed fires create a patchwork of successional stages across burn sites, and provide key habitat for many wildlife species including bison, moose, grouse, and songbirds., DJBR Map Features , [Numbers 1, 2, 3 show habitat enhancement methods locations], [Brown area] Mechanical habitat treatments (rollerchopping) 2000-2002, [Orange area] Mechanical habitat treatments (rollerchopping) 2008, [Yellow area] Mechanical habitat treatments (rollerchopping) 2017-2020, For more information, visit: www.adfg.alaska.gov , and search "Habitat Enhancement"