7/19/2017 1 • Overview of beech ecology • Role as wildlife food and habitat • Spatio-temporal cycles and masting • Population demographics • Predator-prey relations • Human-wildlife conflict • Beech Bark Disease impact on forest system • Conclusions & Implications • Current Projects
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7/19/2017
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• Overview of beech ecology• Role as wildlife food and habitat• Spatio-temporal cycles and masting
• Population demographics• Predator-prey relations• Human-wildlife conflict
• Beech Bark Disease impact on forest system• Conclusions & Implications• Current Projects
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Thomson et al. 2013
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Northern Research StationForest Inventory and Analysis
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American BeechBasal Area per Acre
Northern Research StationForest Inventory and Analysis
Sawtimber, paper, firewood, ornamental tree
Wildlife valuesFoodCavities for nestingDowned wood
Oft-maligned species
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• Model predicted 37% decline in nut production from BBD
• Significant and widespread impacts on wildlife and forest
Costello 1992
02468
10
1948 1989 2030
Beechnuts x100,000/ha
?
BBD
↓ Large northern hardwoods dominating canopy
↑ Beech saplings
↑ More, smaller beech logs
↓ Recent beech snags
↑ Advanced stages of BBD
↑ Shrub richness
↑ Beech nut production trendMcNulty and Masters 2004
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Component Non-thicket Thicket
Mean beech sapling density (stems/m2)
0.12 0.55
Mean litter depth (cm) 1.48 2.25
Plant species 34 22
Fern species 12 6
Mean shrub species 6.5 1
Cale et al. 2012
• Beech thicket• Light levels lower; competition higher?• Dense, lignin-rich beech litter makes herb establishment difficult –
phytotoxic?
• Higher diversity• Non-thicket had a third more species• Caveat: mechanism that caused a thicket not studied (soil,
• Cycles in beech mast production initiated immediate and time-lagged effects on mustelids, their small mammal prey, bear demography…
• Animals’ reliance on beech nuts affected by alternate food sources (also competition, habitat quality…)
• Synchronicity in space and time – environmental factors
• BBD/nut model: correct for single trees; wrong on landscape scale
• Forest continues to change with BBD
• The cascading effects of an invasive disease complex can negatively affect the diversity of non-host species
• Monitoring mast availability can be used to predict animal populations and periods of human-wildlife conflict and to inform harvest regulations
• Trophic interactions are affected by the beech mast cycle, e.g.• Herbivore-carnivore relationships• Interguild relationships: fewer beech nuts predation of bird nests by mammals
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• Dominant sugar maple, yellow birch, white ash (& beech) being replaced by a less-diverse forest of degraded beech
• Soils are high-quality (Skerry, Becket series)
• Is mechanical control possible and feasible?
• Can desirable species be retained and promoted?
• At what price?
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Commercial beech control
Study treatment impacts on • Forest structure and composition• Vascular plant/epiphyte diversity• Beech seed production by tree• Microclimate • Wildlife taxa
• Bats• Small mammals• Songbirds
Caroline Byrne
The project is designed to meet the challenge of retaining and encouraging a desirable mix of forest species and structure for both ecosystem function and economic value.
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Mammal GridsTreatment, 1971Treatment, 1952Uncut ControlALTEMP Control
• Beech growth, mortality and reproduction• Management ramifications
• Which beech can be retained to produce nuts/wildlife value
• How long might a beech tree survive given its BBD rating
• Integrate management objectives
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Paul Jensen, DEC Region 5Walter Jakubas, Maine Dept. Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Charlotte Demers and Ray Masters, SUNY ESF Adirondack Ecological Center
Greg McGee, René Germain, Shannon Farrell, and Ralph Nyland, SUNY ESF
Paul Jensen, DEC Region 5Walter Jakubas, Maine Dept. Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Charlotte Demers and Ray Masters, SUNY ESF Adirondack Ecological Center
Greg McGee, René Germain, Shannon Farrell, and Ralph Nyland, SUNY ESF
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Cale, J., S. McNulty, S. Teale and J. Castello. 2013. The impact of beech thickets on northern hardwood forest biodiversity. Biological Invasions 15:699-706.
Costello, C. 1992. Black bear habitat ecology in the central Adirondacks as related to food abundance and forest management. M.S. Thesis. State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, 165 pp.
Elowe, K.D. and W.E. Dodge. 1989 Factors affecting black bear reproductive success and cub survival. Journal of Wildlife Management 53:962-968.
Hane, E.N. 2003. Indirect effects of beech bark disease on sugar maple seedling survival. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 33:807-813.Jakubas, W. J., C. R. McLaughlin, P. G. Jensen, and S. A. McNulty. 2005. Alternate year beechnut production and its influence on bear and
marten populations. Pages 79-87 in Evans, C.A., J.A. Lucas, and M.J. Twery, eds. Beech Bark Disease: Proceedings of the Beech Bark Disease Symposium. General Technical Report NE-331. Newtown Square, PA. USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 149pp.
Jensen, P.G., C.L. Demers, S.A. McNulty, W. Jakubas, and M.M. Humphries. 2012. Marten and fisher responses to fluctuations in prey populations and mast crops in the northern hardwood forest. Journal of Wildlife Management 76:489-502. DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.322
LaMere, C. R., S. A. McNulty and J. E. Hurst. 2013. Human-black bear conflicts are related to mast production in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. Proceedings of the Eastern Black Bear Workshop 2011.
McNulty, S. A. and R. D. Masters. 2005. Changes to the Adirondack forest: Implications of beech bark disease on forest structure and seed production. Pages 52-57 in Evans, C.A., J.A. Lucas, and M.J. Twery, eds. Beech Bark Disease: Proceedings of the Beech Bark Disease Symposium. General Technical Report NE-331. Newtown Square, PA. USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station. 149pp.
Mott, E. 1901. The Extinct Passenger Pigeon.The New York Times Published August 18 1901.Thompson, J. R., D. N. Carpenter, C. V. Cogbill, and D. R. Foster. 2013. Four Centuries of Change in Northeastern United States Forests. B.