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Human Land Use Changes and Forest Wildlife

Following European settlement, historic trends in southern forest wildlife have closely followed habitat changes associated with land conversion and timber resource removal, coupled with uncontrolled exploitation of many species. For a more detailed history of southern forest wildlife see chapter 1. Alterations in land use have changed the amounts of forest habitat available to forest wildlife species. They have fragmented forest stands and changed forest edge and forest interior habitats. Changes in the abundance, species richness, and species composition of forest wildlife have been documented in response to land use changes. This section describes the responses of forest wildlife to human land use changes.

See chapter 6 for a more detailed discussion of historic land use changes and chapter 24. The initial conversion of forests and forest openings to farmland brought many changes in the numbers and kinds of wildlife (Bolen and Robinson 1995). Land conversions were not always negative for wildlife, however. Timber cutting for homesteads, cooperage, tanbark, heating, and land conversion (for fields and livestock) was initially beneficial to many wildlife species (Clark and Pelton 1999). Small farms carved from forests offered more edge habitat and supplemental food sources for many wildlife species. As forest timbering and land use conversions increased, however, a combination of habitat loss and unrestricted wildlife exploitation decimated populations of black bears, white-tailed deer, and turkeys (Adams 1994, Clark and Pelton 1999).

Later, a trend toward abandonment of the small farms carved into woodlands began as the soils were depleted (chapter 6). As previously tilled lands reverted to shrubs and other vegetation, white-tailed deer, eastern cottontails, northern bobwhite, and some early successional bird species were highly favored (Clark and Pelton 1999, Hunter and others 2001b). The conversion of agricultural land to some type of forest cover is expected to continue in some areas of the South as landowner returns from agriculture decline relative to those from forestry (chapter 6). Recent changes in farming practices have reduced the value of farms as habitat for some wildlife species.

Currently, strong economic growth has led to increased urbanization in parts of the South (chapter 6). Urbanization fragments the natural landscape, destroys habitat required for many species, modifies habitat for others, and creates new habitat for some species (Adams 1994). This land use shift will continue to influence the region’s forests along with forest wildlife and habitat (chapter 6). Recent patterns of urban growth in the South have moved more people into the historically rural areas in low-density residential developments. In some areas of the South, forest cover remains relatively high, but the landscape is highly fragmented. Land use changes that result in increased forest fragmentation could have negative impacts on a number of forest wildlife species, including many mature forest and early successional bird species.