Chapter Three

3.PRINCIPLES OF WILDLIFE ECOLOGY

3.1 . WILDLIFE HABITAT, COVER AND TERRITORY

3.1.1. WILDLIFE HABITAT
What is the ecology?
Ecology, in part, means the study of how
and where plants and animals live.
From a wildlife standpoint, think of ecology
as the relationship between wild animals
and their surroundings.
The study the interaction between plants
and animals and their environment.
By understanding the needs of the wildlife,
such as their habits and habitat.
Wildness: it is a condition of genetic and
learned conditions which enables animals
successfully to adapt in natural
environment.
Why we study wildlife ecology?
To assess the habits of wildlife
To identify species origin
To explore how species related to their
ecosystem.
To understand food chain and food web
Species Richness and Diversity
Natural Selection and Adaptations

To observe the role of each species in the

ecosystem.
To look at the changes that takes place
plant communities through succession,
animal communities through evolution and
also changes:
To observe the level tolerance and
resistance and resilience of the
communities for disturbance.
To understand wildlife Population Dynamics
To understand why a population of a species
lives where it does
that is to explain its distribution in nature,
we should know how an individual is
adapted to its environment
what types of environment it encounters,
what resources are available
The be familiar the diets and feeding
mechanisms of wildlife species.
To adapt the ethics and behavior of wildlife
Why are organisms of a particular species
present in some places and absent in others
places.?
To understand the various forms of
interaction between species.
To know predator- prey interaction.
Numerous factors of the
environment affect wildlife
habitat.
These factors vary in time and

space and interact in complex

ways to favor or hinder the
functions, reproduction of wildlife
species.
Limiting factors for wildlife populations
Limiting factors :is any thing that restricts
a number of individuals in the population.
Limiting factors include living and non-
living features in the ecosystem.
In all habitats there is a limit to the
number of animals of any one species that
can be supported.
That is known as the carrying capacity of
the habitat.
The question what determines carrying
capacity is not as easy to answer as it might
seem.
Certain obvious factors are involved:
The right kind of food, and the quantity of it
available.
The presence of water, for most animals
The right kind of soil, for some species
The necessary topography-mountains,
plains, lakes, streams.
ecologist often classify limiting factors:
Biotic:
Food quantity.
Food quality.
Water
Predation.
Disease and parasites
Human activities
Vegetation
Mortality
Poor reproduction
Poor animal condition
Population size.
Overgrazing
Physical:
Temperature
Precipitation.
Snow characteristics.
Humidity.
Topography
Environmental influences
Edaphic (soil):
Depth.
Moisture.
Texture.
Chemistry.
These physical, biotic and edaphic factors

are determining characteristics of wildlife

habitat
Habitat" is a key concept of wildlife
conservation.
It is the place where an organism lives
within a community.
The place to live is what we mean by
habitat; a space where wildlife secures
habitat resources and an environment
suited to a particular species.
But no matter what kind of animal
you're talking about, its habitat must
have four essential things:
Food
Water
Cover and Space
Wildlife needs vary with the season and life
stage of a species.
Additionally, all species have preferred

habitat and minimum habitat conditions.

Niche: An organisms role in the ecosystem

A species that is flexible in its habitat

adaptability is sometimes called a
"generalist."
A species with a rather narrow and specific
range of requirements may experience
severe population fluctuations with changes
in the environment.
These species are referred to as
"specialists.
Species that are very sensitive to certain
environmental changes are sometimes used
as "indicator species".
These species clue wildlife managers into
subtle environmental conditions and
changes that would otherwise be difficult to
measure or assess.
Indicator species:
A species whose status provides information
on the overall condition of the ecosystem
and of other species in that ecosystem .
They reflect the quality and changes in
environmental conditions as well as aspects
of community composition .
A species sensitive to environmental
change, which can therefore provide a
measure of health for the ecosystem.
Indicates certain environmental conditions
or suitable habitats for other species.
A group of birds feeding or moving together

is called flock.
Akeystone speciesis a plant or animal
that plays a unique and crucial role in the
way an ecosystem functions.
A species whose loss from an ecosystem

would cause a greater than average change

in other species populations or ecosystems
functions, processes and integrity; species
that have a disproportionately large effect
on other species in a community.
KEYSTONE SPECIES:
A species that plays a large or critical role

in supporting the integrity of its ecological

community.
Withoutkeystone species, the

ecosystemwouldbe dramatically different

or cease to exist altogether.
BUSH MEAT
originated from west Africa and refers to

meat of wild animals) wild animals

hunted/collected for food, while "game" is
used in reference to animals hunted for
sport or trophy .
CORRIDOR
Way to maintain vital ecological or

environmental connectivity by maintaining

physical linkages between core areas.
Area of suitable habitat, or habitat

undergoing restoration, linking two or more

protected areas (or linking important
habitat that is not protected) to allow
interchange of species, migration, gene
exchange, etc.
Area of habitat connecting wildlife
populations separated by human activities
or structures (such as roads, development,
or logging).
This allows an exchange of individuals

between populations, which may help

prevent the negative effects of inbreeding
and reduced genetic diversity (via genetic
drift) that often occur within isolated
populations .
Corridors may also help facilitate the re-
establishment of populations that have
been reduced or eliminated due to random
events (such as fires or disease).
CRITICAL AREA :
Parts of the home range where limiting

habitat resources are located.

They are also termed key areas, e.g. area

near water sources on which desert wildlife

may depend in dry seasons.
FREE-RANGE:
Farming method whereby animals are given
the ability to roam freely instead of being
restricted to a confined area.
This term can be applied to dairy, poultry,
and meat production.
Cover:

What is a cover?
What types of cover are?
What factors affect cover selection?
How do wildlife use cover differently?
What factors affect cover quality and

availability?
What affects covers requirement?

Who cares the cover?

Cover:
Cover refers to the structure of thehabitat.)
When differing cover types are provided,
food and water generally are not a limiting
factor.
Necessary types of cover include nesting,
brooding, loafing, roosting, escape and
thermo regulation (providing shade,
warmth, or cover from adverse weather
conditions, i.e. hail).
Actually wildlife cover has 2
components:
it provides shelter from adverse weather
conditions (winter or thermal cover), and
it provides protection from predators
(screening or escape cover).
Types and functions cover:
shelter and concealment
Winter
Refuge
Loafing/resting
Nesting
Breeding
Roosting

Thermal
Escape
Bedding
Feeding travelling
Nesting cover :is extremely important and
is typically associated with grasses that
form a canopy over the nest, protecting it
from the sun and rain and concealing the
hen while she is incubating.
Loafing cover :is required during periods
when quail are not feeding, avoiding
predators, resting in shade, or seeking
protection from adverse weather conditions.
What affects cover requirement?
Species
Function
Age
Season
Predation pressure
Pests
Region
With species, the needs for cover will vary
with
Function of the animals :such as feeding, resting
or travel.
With season :a suitable area for summer shelter or
escape can lose its value when leaves are shed in
the autumn.
A dense grassland, useful for shelter in spring
becomes too open as the grasses dry in the
autumn.
With weather condition: sever weather not only
increase the need for cover, but can also destroy it.
Among sex age classes: species
function such as reproduction, often occur
seasonally and may involve only certain sex
age classes, thus, the requirements of
grouse for brood cover occurs seasonally
and involves only hens with young chicks.
According to prevalence of predator or
pests :
escape cover is not necessary when
predators are absent.
Among geographic regions :within
species having large geographic range,
populations in different regions may be
adapted to very different environments and
may have evolved very different cover
requirements.
Cover availability vary with land-use
practices, site disturbance or biotic
succession among season conditions.
Evaluation of cover quality:
This is usually done by evaluating preference
and success of animals in different types of
cover.
In order to evaluate cover quality, we must
restrict our thinking to cover that is used for
some one function, such as nesting, brooding
or escape.
Cover quality can be evaluated by
measuring the animals success in
functioning within various types of cover.
This method is analogous to a feeding trail

we might compare survival of animals with

access to different types of shelter from
weather or access to different types of
escape cover.
A high degree of success in some cover

type in evident to its high quality.

Cover components
Knowledge of the cover preferences of, and

success ofa species in various cover types is

often sufficient for describing the animals
cover requirements and for managing its
habitat.
To understand the special attributes of quality
cover we must measure its structural or
microclimatic components.
The structural components that matter may
be:
Vegetation form ( grass, forbs, shrubs, trees)
Vegetation density
Snow or water depth
Topography
Slope
Suitability of soil for digging dens etc.
The microclimate components that
matter may be
temperature
humidity
wind
light intensity etc.

HOME RANGE :
This area in which an individual animal
spends all, or most of its time is known as
its home range.
Much of the activity of animals will center
around some favored feeding ground, or a
place where it rests or sleeps or perhaps a
patch of cover in which it feels secure from
enemies.
Each wildlife species requires a certain
amount of space to move about, avoid or
escape potential predators, locate a mate,
obtain sufficient food and water for survival,
and rest. This space is often referred to as
the home range of an animal.
The area traversed by an animal during a

defined part of its life (e.g. day, season,

year) in order to eat, find shelter, and
reproduce. Called home range.
Generally:
Sedentary animals may have only one
home range.
Some species normally have several home
ranges that are used seasonally.
Seasonally used home ranges do not fulfil
year round habitat requirements only fulfils
seasonal habitat requirements.

Size of home ranges vary among animas.

Generally carnivorous have larger home ranges
than do herbivores of the same body size
Home ranges are often larger for males than for
female of the same species.
Home ranges may be much reduced in some
seasons e.g. when demands of reproduction tie
animals to nest.
Home ranges to be smaller in good habitat than
in poor habitat because animals do not have to
travel as far to fulfil their needs.
TERRITORY:
Territory: An area within which all activities
occur such as:
courtship
mating
nesting and foraging.
each individual defends a portion of its home
range and uses it exclusively this refers to
territory
Animals that exhibit antagonism toward
other members of their species often space
themselves within a habitat in such a way
that contacts between individuals are
minimized.
When this results in the occupancy an area

by an individual or a group to the usual

exclusion of other individuals or groups of
the same species, the area occupied is
known as a territory.
Territoriality
is thebehaviorby which an
animallays claim to and defends an area
against others of itsspecies, and
occasionally members of other species as
well.
This behavior, in which individual members

of a species maintain exclusive use of an

area that contains some limiting resource,
such as foraging ground, food, or potential
mates,
is called territoriality .
Territorialism :can serve as a mechanism
to prevent the overcrowding of a habitat,
and thus guarantee to each individual or
territorial group a space, within which its
necessities are available and are
maintained for its exclusive use.
Territory is used against for :
competition
overcrowding
Defensive and security and stability
Exclusion
Refuge from predators
Protection from weather extremes
Rearing and raising young ones
Reproduction and mating and courting
Nesting and parenting
Limiting resource
Territory may be defended by:
individuals
Breeding pairs
Social groups etc, Throught:
Scents
Songs and calls
urine
Faces and
intimidation behavior.
demarcation and mapping .
READING ASSIGNMENT
WILDLIFE MOVEMENT
Categorization of wildlife movement
Why do wildlife migrate?
methods of determining movements

and ranges of wild animals.

Problems and obstacles face wildlife

during their migration

What are factors affecting their

migration?
WILDLIFE FOODS, NUTRITION, AND
WATER REQUIREMENTS
WILDLIFE FOODS AND NUTRITION

Obviously, food is important to all wild life.

Animals having good nutrition throughout

their lives grow larger and more vigorous
and healthier than animals having
experienced poor nutrition during part or
all of their lives.
Animals in good condition generally have
higher rates of reproduction and are more
resistant to most forms of mortality than
are animals in poor condition.
Thus, nutrition affects birth rates and
death rates and is important in the
dynamics of managed wildlife populations.
Size, vigor and health are usually
measures of general physical condition.
Allanimals must obtain the food component
such as:
water
Energy
minerals and
various nutrients from their environment

and surroundings.
Animals require energy for basal metabolic

processes and need additional calories for

daily activities.
Special nutrients that required to regulate body
metabolism and for growth and maintenance of tissue
are:
Protein
Vitamins
Essential fatty acids, and
Minerals.
Protein are especially important for:
Growth
Reproduction
Disease resistance

Wildlife need nutrients for:

For maintenance
For reproduction
For wool production
For lactation
For growth and development
For protection and survival against disease
and extreme colds and heat loss
Wild life food requirements are variable
The amount and quality of food required by
wild life may vary according to the following
among species:

Naturally different species require different

quantity and quality of food.

Between the sexes:

Male and females of the same species

usually exhibit similar but not necessarily

the same food habits
Among age classes
Young growing animals, being small, have a
higher metabolic rate relative to body size than
do adults.
They also require extra energy, protein, and
other nutrients for rapid growth, often
necessary for survival.
Young animals usually compensate for their
relatively (compared to body size) greater
requirements for energy and nutrient by eating
more continuously and easily digested food.
With physiological function:
The quantities of energy and nutrients
required by an animal depend on nutritional
demands of functions like :
pregnancy
growth
lactation
molting, and
energy storage prior to hibernation and
migration.
Season of the year:
Food habits of vertebrates vary with
seasonal changes in the availability and
qualities of the food types as well as with
seasonal change in animals physiological
and nutrient requirements.
With weather condition and geographic
location.
This may also affect the food requirement of

animals below the lower and above critical

temperature.
Below the lower critical temperature the

animal must burn extra food to produce heat

energy and above the upper critical
temperature animal must facilitate
evaporative cooling, usually by panting, a
process that also require extra energy.
FOOD PREFERENCE
Wild animals differ in their food
preferences.
Carnivores:
Most carnivores are opportunistic
feeders, adapted to catching certain
types of prey ( fish, birds, small
mammals, large mammals), but
generally feeding on any species that is
available and vulnerable.
These carnivores do not exhibit
marked food preferences.
As a result, nutritional problems of

wild carnivorous are problems of food

quantity and availability, not of food
quality.
Herbivores:

feed mainly on plant species and parts of

plant ( bud, leaves, flowers, fruits) in which
nutrients are concentrated, they exhibit
strong preferences for certain high quality
plant foods.
Nutritional problems of wild herbivorous

are usually due to a lack of food of

adequate quality.
WILD LIFE WATER REQUIREMENTS
Water is necessary dietary component,

participating in many chemical and physical

processes in wild animals life.
It is necessary for digestion and

metabolism, to carry off body wastes and

for evaporative cooling (particularly in hot
environments).
Wild life vertebrates may obtain
water from:
Free water in lakes, ponds, and
streams,
Succulent vegetation
Utilization of dew, or
Metabolic water produced in a
process of metabolizing fats and
carbohydrates.
Wildlife respond to water shortage or
deprivation in various ways:
Plants:
Plants response water storage through
Decreasing/reducing/stomata

conductance
Decreasing leaf surface
Increasing root length and root density
Development water storage organs
Thickening of leaf cell walls
Elephants will dig in dry river bottoms,
exposing water for themselves and other
species,
Mobile species, like doves and many birds,
will migrate to water sources.
Some wildlife must abandon waterless
ranges during dry seasons and concentrate
around surface water.
Nocturnal or fossorial habits
Concentrating excreta
Morphological adaptations
Use of metabolic water
Water storage
Mobility
Patterns of reproduction
THANK YOU