and kinds of wildlife using different parts of your woodland. If you decide to harvest or plant part of your woodlands or even individual scattered trees, these decisions also cause changes in the numbers and kinds of wildlife. Depending on what choices you make, certain types of animals will increase in number, others will decrease in number, and still others will stay at the same population level.

The following article will attempt to introduce you, in a very brief way, to certain field techniques which are applicable to wildlife enhancement in our Island’s woodlands.

Virtually all wildlife enhancement work is based on the theory that, if you improve the amount of food, water, shelter and special requirements available within the "home range" of a given animal, the amount of area utilized by the animal will decrease and the same area can therefore support more animals.

Most of the information that is available in wildlife management texts is for the game animals (those that are hunted or trapped) and even that consists largely of observation and measurement of observable items such as food consumption. The actual relationships between why and when a particular food is used and the health of the population is still poorly understood.

QQECEPTS THAT ARE USED:

Home Range: This term refers to the area normally used by a mammal for its usual activities.

Territoriality: Territoriality exists when an animal defends and holds an area against intrusions by other members of its species or, sometimes another species. It is most frequently seen during the breeding season but varies . between species. It results in the establishment of territories which only strong members can hold and results in weaker individuals being forced into poor habitats from which they attempt to emigrate when good habitat becomes available.

Population Forces: These are any of the factors which affect the number of animals in a population. Population increase may be caused by an increase in the birth rate, immigration, and/or decreases in mortality. Population decreases may be caused by a decrease in the birth rate, emigration, and/or 'increases in the mortality rate.

Carrying Capacity: This is the maximum number of individuals that a given habitat can support. -

Edge: The border line where two or more types of vegetation meet is referred to a edge. Counts of animals in edge habitat are usually higher than in the adjacent habitat that create it. Because of this, wildlife managers often create edge for the species they are managing by interplanting a different species or by cutting techniques.

' BEQQJREMENTS FOR FOOD. WATER, SHELTER, ETC. : Food:

An intimate knowledge of the food requirements and feeding methods of each species during the various phases of the year is needed to allow the food crop to be manipulated properly. This data is sometimes difficult to obtain but the best sources for this information are life histories or species monographs. Some of these can be obtained from the U.P.E.I. library.

Altering the food species present or the abundance produced may be .

-10—