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Oh deer, what do we have here? Monitoring stand and landscape-level changes in wildlife habitat use in northern New York Hannah Cave, Liam Rascoe, danielle Garneau, and Mark Lesser

Background

The Pinus banksiana (jack pine) sandstone barrens in Flat Rock State Forest are totally different from the surrounding northern hardwood forests and are considered a globally rare community type. Jack pine is a boreal forest species, which grows on dry sandy and rocky sites and depends on periodic fires for regeneration, much like its southern counterpart, Pinus rigida (pitch pine). Our study looked into wildlife's use of jack pine, pitch pine, and mixed hardwood forests in Altona, New York.

Altona Flat Rock extent and disturbed burn site
Landscape heterogeneity across the Altona Flat Rock and surrounding forests 2018 burn and reference stands, pitch pine forest near the Million Dollar Dam, mixed hardwood mesic forest near Cobblestone Hill
Landscape heterogeneity across the Altona Flat Rock and surrounding forests 2018 burn and reference stands, pitch pine forest near the Million Dollar Dam, mixed hardwood mesic forest near Cobblestone Hill
Landscape heterogeneity across the Altona Flat Rock and surrounding forests 2018 burn and reference stands, pitch pine forest near the Million Dollar Dam, mixed hardwood mesic forest near Cobblestone Hill
Landscape heterogeneity across the Altona Flat Rock and surrounding forests 2018 burn and reference stands, pitch pine forest near the Million Dollar Dam, mixed hardwood mesic forest near Cobblestone Hill

Forest Management and Disturbance

Northern hardwood forests of the North Country are co-dominated by sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and land-owners will often thin stands and run taplines for sugaring. Our Atwood hardwood forest site was subject to this disturbance and is part of the Parker Maple Farm sugaring operation in Chazy, NY.

Maple sugar lines run in the hardwood stand (Atwood site)

In recent years, wildfire has disturbed the Altona Flat Rock jack pine site.

2018 fire (right) and fire history at the Flat Rock (table)
2018 Flat Rock fire in the jack pine/blueberry-huckleberry dominated sandstone pavement barrens
Year 1 and 2 regeneration following the 2018 wildfire
Year 1 and 2 regeneration following the 2018 wildfire

Methods

Since spring 2018, we have used game cameras to continuously monitor wildlife in the hardwood-dominated forests surrounding the Flat Rock (n = 12). Concurrently, we have also been monitoring wildlife use in the pitch pine (n = 4) and jack pine barrens (n = 8).

Boundary map of the Altona Flat Rock with colors indicating differing forest types and game camera monitoring sites
Game cameras at the pitch pine, hardwood, jack pine burn stands
Game cameras at the pitch pine, hardwood, jack pine burn stands
Game cameras at the pitch pine, hardwood, jack pine burn stands

Results

Species richness varied across all 3 sites with the highest richness observed at the jack pine.

While observed diversity was similar among the hardwood and jack pine sites, the pitch pines low diversity index can be explained by Odocoileus virginianus (white-tailed deer), Canis latrans (eastern coyote), and Pekania pennanti (fisher) being the only animals observed using this landscape

The most ubiquitous herbivore across all 3 sites was white-tailed deer.

Eastern coyote and Lepus americanus (snowshoe hare) were most abundant in the jack pine forest type.

eastern coyote (left) and snowshoe hare (right)
Sciurus carolinensis (gray squirrel) and S. vulgaris (red squirrel) (left) were found almost exclusively in either the hardwood or jack pine forests. Procyon lotor (raccoon) (right) were found most often in the hardwood as well as jack pine.

Avian species observed were exclusively either in the hardwood or jack pine forests.

Turdus migratorius (American robin) (left) among other songbird species were seen most frequently in the jack pine forests.

Observations such as these and differences in richness suggest different dietary needs and preferences among species with preferences for different landscape types.

Richness changes over time

Disturbance in the jack pine stand initially decreased richness, however, over the duration of the study there was little difference between the disturbed (26 species) and undisturbed (22 species) jack pine stands

Wildlife use of disturbed (wildfire) jack pine habitat over time:

Immediately following the burn, wildlife shifted into the undisturbed forest and by spring 2020, they had returned back to the burn

In spring 2020, wildlife were commonly noted in the disturbed burn

In fall 2021, there was a peak in wildlife occurrences in the undisturbed stands

Wildlife use of managed (maple sugaring) habitat over time:

Management played little role in influencing white-tailed deer as compared to age of the forest stand. Mature forest habitat was preferred by deer.

White-tailed deer, including fawns, were commonly observed in the mature hardwood managed maple stands
White-tailed deer, including fawns, were commonly observed in the mature hardwood managed maple stands

Discussion

Take homes

White-tailed deer were the most observed species in all three forest types regardless of fire disturbance or maple syrup operations.

Species occurrences and diversity were the highest in the jack pine stand followed by the mixed hardwood and then pitch pine forests.

Wildlife occurrences post-fire in the jack pine stand decreased immediately in both the disturbed and undisturbed sites; however, occurrences increased in the burned sites 6 months after the burn.

Fall 2018 through spring 2019, daily occurrences of snowshoe hare and white-tailed deer in the jack pine and hardwood stands displayed a record high trend. Predators in the jack pine and hardwood stands showed a delayed response and increased in daily occurrences from summer 2018 through summer 2019.

Maple sugaring operations played little role in influencing white-tailed deer as compared to age of the forest stand. Mature forest habitat was preferred by deer.

Not all disturbances are equal. A wildfire increased, while tapping for maple sugar reduced diversity and evenness at the Altona Flat Rock.

Cause for consideration

  • Often unexpected set-backs can make for interesting research questions (maple-tapped, pre-maple)
  • Working with surrounding land-owners is an important aspect of research, as many local landowners often leave winter food sources out to support deer and could influence their seasonal movements

Future directions

  • Continue to monitor these sites in the long-term
  • Add snow stakes and iButtons to determine abiotic influences
  • Seasonally monitor small mammals using Sherman traps
  • Seek out funding for potential telemetry research tracking fine-scale white-tailed deer movements across the landscape
Literature cited
Check out our published article on wildlife response to wildfire

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the W.H. Miner Agricultural Institute for funding support and site access. Additional thanks SUNY Plattsburgh for a mini-grant to fund research and students from the Center for Earth and Environmental Science who assisted in data collection. Special thanks to College Auxiliary Services (CAS) for covering conference travel expenses. 

inquisitive fisher at the game camera
Appreciate