I responded off-list last time; thanks for the clarification. However, as I think I stated in my response, your assumption may be right in some cases and in others there may be a big payoff. I suspect I would agree that building such structures at great expense just for the hell of it could be both ineffective and wasteful, or at least futile. However, we actually know so little about the effects of such structures that any cost/benefit analysis could be just as futile.
I have used brush piles, for example, for wildlife cover, for microenviroment creation, for soil moisture retention, for shade, for seed dispersal and entrapment, for wind protection, for perching sites, and for just plain heterogeneity--i.e., all the above and then some. I few barn owl boxes might be in order in some places, and poles for raptor perches and nesting sites. And on and on. But I'm sure that some might go what I might think would be too far. While references are certainly nice, nothing can replace the best judgment one can make--based, of course, on the circumstances of each individual case. Even in marshlands, not every case is the same. I hope you'll share your own experiences here. WT PS: For clarity, here is the text of my off-list response to Charles: What kind? Raptor perches? Brush piles? Or? I suspect you may be right about the cost-benefit, at least in some cases where they don't change much. Efforts to re-balance populations often backfire, but I suspect it depends on context in the final analysis. WT At 10:14 AM 7/12/2007, Charles Andrew Cole wrote: >As I've received many helpful comments on my initial query about the >utility of wildlife habitat structures, it occurs to me that I wasn't >all that clear to begin with. Let me try and be more precise. > >On wetland mitigation sites, I frequently see piles of brush (often >underwater), wood duck boxes, goose nesting structures, and snags >(dead trees implanted in the ground) all installed in the name of >wildlife habitat improvement. I rarely see any wildlife use these >structures (especially the submerged brush piles :-D ) and by the >time the 5-year permit is up, these are frequently falling down or in >bad repair. So I wonder about the utility of spending the time and >the money to install these in created wetlands. It just doesn't seem >worth it at all. Is there any refereed literature on this subject >relative to wetland mitigation sites? > >Hopefully, that's more clear. > > >Thanks. > >Andy > > > >Charles Andrew Cole, Ph.D. >Associate Director >Center for Watershed Stewardship >Penn State University >301a Forest Resources Laboratory >University Park, PA 16802 >814-865-5735 >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >http://www.larch.psu.edu/watershed/home.html
