Creating Snags for Wildlife

Rebecca CahallFS 533

March 15, 2007

Where are the snags?• Limited in forested landscapes

– Management effects

Creating snags

•Herbicide•Inoculation with fungi•Girdling•Pheromone baiting•Topping

–Saw or explosive

Success =

 Killed

treesPersiste

dForagin

g

Nesting

Herbicide ++ + / -Inoculation - +

Girdling ++ - + - Pheromone / -Topping ++ + ++ +

Effective +Used

And the best method for creating snags

• Topping trees below live crown

•Improvements?

~Combine topping with pheromone baiting

Questions?

Sources• Bull, E. L., and A. D. Partridge. 1986. Methods of killing trees for use by

cavity nesters. Wildlife Society Bulletin 14:142-146.• Conner, R. N., J. C. Kroll, and D. L. Kulhavy. 1983. The potential of girdled

and 2,4-D injected southern red oaks as woodpecker nesting and foraging sites. Southern Journal of Applied Forestry 7:125-128.

• Filip, G. M., C. G. Parks, F. A. Baker, and S. E. Daniels. 2004. Artificial inoculation of decay fungi into Douglas-fir with rifle or shotgun to produce wildlife trees in western Oregon. Western Journal of Applied Forestry 19:211-214.

• Hallet, J. G., T. Lopez, M. A. O'Connell, and M. A. Borysewicz. 2001. Decay dynamics and avian use of artificially created snags. Northwest Science 75:378-386.

• Ross, D. W., and C. G. Niwa. 1997. Using aggregation and antiaggregation pheromones of the Douglas-fir beetle to produce snags for wildlife habitat. Western Journal of Applied Forestry 12:52-54.