Wildlife rely on trees for cover and food, both in the form of browse and mast (hard or soft fruits). Wildlife species have preferred foods, of course. If we select wildlife-preferred species as our crop trees and remove competing trees, the crop trees respond by producing more mast.
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Generally, wildlife uses forest trees for cover and a source of food. Releasing crop trees can result in increased sunlight reaching the forest floor. This sunlight can stimulate the growth of seedlings and shrubs, and can even keep lower limbs of the crop trees alive while the crop tree branches grow into the newly-created gaps. Further, cull trees might sprout new branches from the stumps. All of this greenery provides valuable cover and browse for wildlife.
Another hidden wildlife bonus can be found in the insect food and cover provided by snags (standing dead trees) left by girdling or in the coarse woody debris left by chainsaw felling.
The primary way CTR can help enhance the wildlife value of your property is by increasing both soft and hard mast production, which is essential to all wildlife species. Mast is a term used to describe the fruit of woody plants. Hard mast are fruits such as acorns and hickory nuts; soft mast are fleshy fruits such as berries and cherries. Healthy crop trees with deeper and wider crowns can be expected to yield larger mast crops.
Diversity of crop trees selected for release is an important consideration for wildlife. A late spring frost might ruin the
white oak and
chestnut oak crop of acorns later that summer.
Red,
black and
scarlet oaks take two growing seasons to mature, so they would be unaffected by that late frost.
When releasing trees for a wildlife objective, you don't need to be overly concerned with tree form. Wildlife will not be attracted by the timber value of your crop tree; they will be attracted to the increased food created from releasing your crop trees. You should still select tall and structurally sound crop trees, but do not be overly concerned with timber quality. You might even choose to release den trees or trees with small cavities.
Oaks are separated into two broad groups, red and white. In the Appalachians, the most common members of red oak group are
northern red oak,
black oak, and
scarlet oak. The most common members of the white oak group are white oak and
chestnut oak.
Species in the white oak group produce fruit that has less tannic acid, making them tastier to wildlife. In the Appalachians, black oak acorns (in the red oak group) have the most tannic acid.
Black cherry is one of the last soft, fleshy fruits available to wildlife in the fall.
Humans have historically used white oak acorns to make flour.
Chestnut oak produces the largest acorns of all the oaks in the Appalachians.
How crop tree release can be used to create wildlife habitat with Dr David Carter (part 1).
cavity trees would not be selected a crop trees if timber production is your goal
cavity trees are great crop trees if creating wildlife habitat is your primary goal
>How crop tree release can be used to create wildlife habitat with Dr David Carter (part 2).
encourage a variety of species
encourage soft mast species like serviceberry
encourage hard mast species like oak, hickory, walnut, beech
diversity is important - white oak acorns mature in one season, red oaks in two
