APPENDIX H Ref: H-065 Copyright © 2003 by Tolko High Level Lumber Division & Footner Forest Products Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Life Requisite Summary of Selected Terrestrial Vertebrates within the Tolko Industries Ltd (HLLD) FMA Area Prepared by Eco-West Environmental Services Ltd 1 Eco-West Environmental Services Ltd. A summary report compiled for Tolko Industries Ltd. (HLLD) Front page photo credits clockwise from top left: Bison (Kim Morton), Pileated Woodpecker (Dennis Eckford), and Grizzly Bear (Kim Morton). 2 Eco-West Environmental Services Ltd. Executive Summary Tolko Industries Ltd (HLLD) is currently in the process of compiling a summary document (the Detailed Forest Management Plan), outlining the operational plans for the next ten-year period. As Tolko Industries Ltd. (HLLD) intends to harvest timber over many years, the importance of a document outlining habitat needs of wildlife was deemed necessary by industry, government, and the general public. As all species can not be monitored concurrently, due to cost and logistical constraints, a group of selected species was chosen by Tolko Industries Ltd. (HLLD), government, and the author. These thirty-two species represent the habitat requirements of other species within the FMA area of Tolko Industries Ltd. (HLLD). By managing for this limited number of species, all available habitats can be managed and monitored in both a cost-effective and logistically sound manner. Species were also chosen based on several other criteria, including status, commercial importance, and public opinion. The information laid out herein includes all relevant, current knowledge for which future management goals may be based, as related to habitat needs. Information is categorized into several sections including food cover and reproduction. Separate sub-headings have also been incorporated to assess species-specific needs, such as nesting habitat, winter denning habitat, or winter thermal cover. Future plans to incorporate this document include the development of habitat suitability index (HSI) models, mapping of associated wildlife habitat complemented with vegetation assessments, and landscape management practices over long-term forest management cycles. 3 Eco-West Environmental Services Ltd. Disclaimer Each species has a detailed account of habitat needs and requirements. At the end of each species are two supplementary sections. ‘Management Implications’ outlines best practices, either derived from published documents or expert knowledge and are considered important in regards to preserving the suitability of habitat. ‘Research Needs’ is a section added due to knowledge gaps in the current literature. Within the FMA area and even within Alberta, local studies are infrequent. Information must be gathered on both provincial and local area. Although deemed important by industry, government and the author, these ‘research needs’ are not necessarily the responsibility of Tolko Industries Ltd. (HLLD), as some of the studies could be undertaken by government and publicly-funded initiatives. 4 Eco-West Environmental Services Ltd. Acknowledgments Thanks to the many different people contributed to this document • Bob Boyce (Tolko Industries Ltd (HLLD) and Tom Hoffman (Tolko Industries Ltd (HLLD) for their vision • Kim Morton (Alberta Sustainable Resource Development) for coaching, assessing, reviewing, revising, and adding to this document • Bruce Avery (Tolko Industries Ltd (HLLD ), for organizing funding support through the Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta (FRIAA) • William Lane, Kim Morton, Lisa Takats, Ken Wright, John Hallet, Kevin Cedar, Benjamin Israel, Ettiene Groenwald, Kris Kendall, Mike Shipman, Anthony Russell, Dave Stepnisky, Maarten Vonhof, Jocelyn Hudon, and others who so generously supplied information or pictures. 5 Eco-West Environmental Services Ltd. Habitat Requirements green = habitat use Young Mature Old yellow = secondary habitat use red = definitely no habitat use blank = limited importance/lack of information Edge Mixed Mixed Mixed Wetlands Shrubland Deciduous Deciduous Deciduous Coniferous Coniferous Coniferous Flowing Water Standing Water Shrubby Riparian Wooded Riparian Grassland or meadow American Beaver American Marten Black and White Warbler Black Bear Black-backed Woodpecker Primarily burnt forests Black-capped Chickadee Boreal Chorus Frog Boreal Owl Canada Lynx Canadian Toad Cougar Dark-eyed Junco Great Gray Owl Grizzly Bear Mink Moose Northern Goshawk Northern Myotis Olive-sided Flycatcher Orange-crowned Warbler Pileated Woodpecker Pine Grosbeak Red-breasted Nuthatch Ruffed Grouse Sharp-tail Grouse Song Sparrow Southern Red-backed Vole Warbling Vireo White-tailed Deer Wolverine Wood Bison Woodland Caribou *These habitat requirements are a summary of literature at present; however, they are are specific of proven for Tolko Industries Ltd (HLLD) FMA area at this time 6 Eco-West Environmental Services Ltd. Table of Contents American Beaver 9 American Marten 19 Black and White Warbler 30 Black Bear 37 Black-backed Woodpecker 46 Black-capped Chickadee 52 Boreal Chorus Frog 62 Boreal Owl 69 Canada Lynx 77 Canadian Toad 85 Cougar 91 Dark-eyed Junco 98 Great Gray Owl 106 Grizzly Bear 112 Mink 122 Moose 129 Northern Goshawk 140 Northern Myotis 149 Olive-sided Flycatcher 157 Orange-crowned Warbler 165 Pileated Woodpecker 170 Pine Grosbeak 179 Red-breasted Nuthatch 184 7 Eco-West Environmental Services Ltd. Ruffed Grouse 193 Sharp-tailed Grouse 203 Song Sparrow 212 Southern Red-backed Vole 219 Warbling Vireo 227 White-tailed Deer 234 Wolverine 245 Wood Bison 252 Woodland Caribou 260 Appendix 1 (Alberta vertebrate species) 270 Appendix 2 (Wildlife Management Units) 281 Appendix 3 (Map sheet 84) 282 Appendix 4 (HSI model explanation) 283 Glossary 284 8 Eco-West Environmental Services Ltd. American Beaver Castor canadensis canadensis Beaver (D. Eckford) Introduction The American Beaver is a very common year-round resident of Alberta. Unique morphology, habits and habitat use make this species easily identifiable within Tolko Industries Ltd. (HLLD) FMA area. Provincially, the American Beaver is rated green (breeding) by the Alberta Wildlife Act, secure by the General Status of Alberta Wild Species 2000 and S5 (secure in Alberta) by the Heritage status ranks. The American Beaver forages mainly on deciduous riparian vegetation, especially Populus and Salix species. General habitat use is aquatic and riparian, but dependant on suitable forage and construction materials. The effect the American Beaver has on the surrounding ecosystem is immense. By impeding the flow of water, changes occur in hydrogeochemical cycles, vegetation composition, invertebrate composition, and vertebrate composition, creating unique systems within the forest biome. Food • The diet consists of bark (from the soft cambium layer), leaves, and twigs of deciduous trees and shrubs, corms, rhizomes, stems of aquatic vegetation, coniferous vegetation, and occasionally feces (coprophagy). Trembling Aspen, Poplar and Willow are most common (Nash, 1951; Banfield, 1974; Munro and Fyfe, 1979; Forsyth, 1985; Wheatley, 1997c). • Terrestrial vegetative matter is taken to the water, where it is eaten, stored, or used for construction of the lodge or dam (Banfield, 1974; Munro and Fyfe, 1979). • A food cache must be built in the fall to supply the winter food requirements of individuals in the lodge for as long as ice cover is present. Deciduous species are utilized over coniferous species, but 9 Eco-West Environmental Services Ltd. as winter approaches, quantity rather than quality becomes important, and the variety of cached items increases (Busher, 1996; Wheatley, 1997a). Wetland Habitat • Beavers inhabit slow-moving streams, lakes, rivers, and marshes with abundant, adjacent deciduous vegetation. Areas with greater vegetative biomass supported more productive colonies. Pond habitat is more suitable (than riverine) for beavers due to greater food availability, predator protection, and relatively stable water levels (Nash, 1951; Banfield, 1974; Wheatley, 1997c; Fryxell, 2001).In coniferous mixed forests, the percentage of hardwood vegetation, watershed size, and stream width had significant positive effects on beaver density. An increased stream gradient and overly xeric soils proved to be negative habitat variables (Howard and Larson, 1986). • Vegetation may serve several purposes for the Beaver. Aspen is the primary food source, Alder is a primary dam-building material, birch and willow are secondary food sources, shrubs are occasionally used for dam construction as well as food, and conifers are occasionally used in dam construction or for food (Barnes and Mallik, 1996; Barnes and Mallik, 2001). The total riparian browse area tends to be quite small (<2 ha), and the majority of harvested trees tends to be within 20m of the associated waterbody, possibly due to: - thermoregulatory restrictions (Beavers can become hyperthermic easily) - directionally-leaning trees towards water (due to growing conditions, trees close to water lean in that direction facilitating a more desirable felling direction - potential risk of predation (Banfield, 1974; Munro and Fyfe, 1979; Johnston and Naiman, 1990; Barnes and Mallik, 2001) • Vegetation surrounding river-bank lodges tends to be left unharvested by the beaver, indicating a need for cover and concealment (Dieter and McCabe, 1989). • The size of trees harvested by beavers is dependant upon the distance from the waters edge. The more distant, the smaller the