Avian Research Program Annual Progress Report
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COLORADO DIVISION OF PARKS AND WILDLIFE – AVIAN RESEARCH PROGRAM ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT August 2012 TITLE: Examining the Effectiveness of Mechanical Treatments as a Restoration Technique for Mule Deer Habitat AUTHOR: Danielle B. Johnston PROJECT PERSONNEL: Mark Paschke, Colorado State University Garrett Stephens, Colorado State University Lisa Belmonte, Bureau of Land Management, White River Field Office Bill DeVergie, Area Wildlife Manager J.C. Rivale, Property Technician Period Covered: January 16, 2011 – January 15, 2012 All information in this report is preliminary and subject to further evaluation. Information MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED OR QUOTED without permission of the author. Manipulation of these data beyond that contained in this report is discouraged. ABSTRACT The pinyon-juniper (PJ) habitat type has been expanding in the western United States, and managers often seek methods of thinning or removing Pinyon pine (Pinus edulis) and Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma) trees in order to improve habitat for big game. Because prescribed fire is difficult or impossible to implement in many areas, mechanical tree removal has become common. Several methods of mechanical removal are available, including ship anchor chaining, roller-chopping, and hydroaxing, and these differ in cost as well as in the type of woody debris produced. In order to compare the effectiveness of these three removal methods in PJ forests, a replicated field study was implemented in the Magnolia region of the Piceance Basin, Rio Blanco County, Colorado. Seven parcels were treated with each of the treatment types, and half of each parcel was seeded with a native seed mixture emphasizing palatable shrubs. Mechanical treatments were completed in the fall of 2011. Vegetation will monitored yearly for the next 2-3 growing seasons in order to determine which treatment produces the most desirable plant community. The effectiveness of seeding within each treatment type will be analyzed. 1 EXAMINING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MECHANICAL TREATMENTS AS A RESTORATION TECHNIQUE FOR MULE DEER HABITAT Annual Progress Report, January 16, 2011- January 15, 2012 Danielle B. Johnston PROJECT OBJECTIVES • Assess vegetation response to removal of pinyon and juniper trees via three different mechanical treatments: ship anchor chaining (with two passes), hydro-axing, and roller chopping. • Assess response of desired shrubs to seeding within each mechanical treatment. Focal shrubs include chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), Saskatoon serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia), Utah serviceberry (Amelanchier utahensis), mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus), bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata), and winterfat (Kraschenninnikovia lanata). • Compare cost-effectiveness of the three mechanical treatments. • Examine cost-effectiveness of seeding shrubs in the three mechanical treatments. SEGMENT OBJECTIVES • Select study locations and obtain necessary permits for ground-disturbing activities. • Perform mechanical treatments. • Apply seed. INTRODUCTION Pinyon-Juniper (PJ) woodlands play an important role in mule deer ecology. Pinyon pine (Pinus edulis), Utah juniper (Juniperus osteosperma), and the associated understory shrub species such as mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus montanus), antelope bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata) and big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) are key to winter survival (Hansen and Dearden 1975, Heffelfinger 2006). Deer strongly select for this habitat type because of the escape and thermal cover provided by pinyon and juniper trees (Anderson et al.). However, pinyon-juniper habitats ocassionally lack understory 2 and may provide very little forage (Bender et al. 2007). It has been shown that increasing nutrition in poor quality pinyon-juniper winter range can increase deer populations in western Colorado (Bishop et al. 2009). Therefore, creating patches of habitat types with higher nutritional value within pinyon-juniper stands is a desirable management objective for mule deer. The pinyon-juniper habitat type has increased in many parts of western North America over the past 100 years (Miller and Rose 1999, Schaffer et al. 2003, Bradley and Fleishman 2008). Disruption of natural fire regimes, overgrazing, and invasion by weedy species have led to a wide array of management problems. Of particular concern are overgrown stands of PJ that have allowed the overstory to shade out understory plant species. Because of the proximity to infrastructure and human activity as well as the lack of continuous understory fuels, prescribed fire is often eliminated from consideration as a management tool. Alternatives to natural restoration do exist in the form of mechanically created disturbances, which can open up the canopy and reduce competition (Fairchild 1999). It has been demonstrated in Utah over the last 50 years that the mechanical modification of PJ together with subsequent seeding of selected species can be an effective restoration technique (Fairchild 1999). However, several mechanical removal methods exist, and little information is available to determine which method is most cost-effective. Determining the most-effective approach to mechanical pinyon-juniper removal is imperative due to the current need for habitat improvements which may offset the impacts of oil and gas development. Recent studies have shown that oil and gas activities can influence deer populations due to both direct habitat loss and to indirect effects due to disturbance (Sawyer et al. 2006). In western North America, oil and gas development commonly coincides with pinyon-juniper habitats. A Colorado Parks and Wildlife research project is currently examining the degree to which oil and gas impacts on deer populations may be mitigated by removing pinyon and juniper trees (Anderson 2011). If mitigation proves successful, then removal of pinyon-juniper trees may be widely prescribed as a mitigation treatment for oil and gas impacts. Mechanical treatments in PJ forests differ in the size of woody litter produced and in the degree of soil disturbance created. Chaining is a technique by which trees are removed by dragging a ship anchor chain between two bulldozers. Trees are uprooted and left intact and the action of uprooting creates a great degree of soil disturbance (Cain 1972). Roller chopping is a technique by which a heavy rotating drum with protruding steel plates is pulled behind a bulldozer. The bulldozer knocks the trees over, and the drum chops them into large pieces. The action of the roller chopper creates soil disturbance, though to a lesser degree than does chaining. Hydro-axing is a technique by which a rubber-tired tractor with a front-end mounted high powered blade mulches trees. Fine woody debris is produced, and there is little ground disturbance. Hydro-axing is a relatively new method which has gained favor because of the lower degree of ground disturbance, but only recently has any research been done to understand the effect of hydro-axing on plant communities (Battaglia et al. 2010). No studies have made head-to-head comparisons of older mechanical removal methods with hydro-axing. Differences in the size of woody litter produced and the degree of soil disturbance may influence the germination and establishment of desirable understory species. For instance, the mulch layer produced by a hydro-ax treatment may have positive or negative effects on germination; germination may be inhibited by lower light availability at the soil surface, or it may be enhanced by higher soil moisture. 3 In chaining and roller chopping, the higher degree of soil disturbance may provide an opportunity for seeded species to establish, or it may become a liability by allowing invasion by weedy species. Finally, in a chaining treatment, the tree skeletons may offer a few years of protection from herbivory, which could play an important role in allowing shrubs to establish. These differences may affect the success of seeding attempts following mechanical tree removal, but such differences have yet to be examined. Our study has two goals: to compare the desirability of vegetation produced by three types of mechanical treatment (ship anchor chaining, roller chopping, and hydro-axing), and to determine the usefulness of seeding within each of these three treatments. Desirable vegetation in this context is native vegetation with a high proportion of ground cover consisting of broadleaf forbs and palatable shrubs. STUDY AREA The Piceance Creek Basin, located in northwestern Colorado, serves as winter range for one of North American’s largest migratory mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) populations (Lee 1984). The area, which spans across both Rio Blanco and Garfield counties, is also rich in oil shale and natural gas (Taylor 1987). Development of the basin for the extraction of these resources has gone on for decades and continues to grow. The Piceance Creek Basin ranges in elevation from 1706 meters to 2743 meters with the highest points near the edges (Tiedeman 1978). This basin encompasses nearly 4143 square kilometers and is bordered from the north by the White River, from the south by the Roan Plateau, from the east by the Grand Hogback and from the west by the Cathedral Bluffs (Taylor 1987). Terrain varies, from rugged badlands, abrupt cliffs, and sharp ridges to open valleys, parks and basins (Baker 1970). Its semiarid climate receives between 27 and 63 centimeters of annual precipitation, half coming in the form of snow during winter months (Tiedeman 1978). The Basin is part of the Green River Geologic Formation consisting