Hi Amy,
Although this is a good thought, and some of our WMAs include land that was
grazed prior to becoming a WMA, none of our WMAs are grazed and that has
never been considered as a management option to my knowledge – one of the
goals of WMAs, beyond providing habitat for wildlife, is public access, so
I don’t see grazing being compatible with folks moving freely around on the
property. I think the closest we could come to that is mowing, which could
still be in play for an open grassy area adjacent to the NWSG area.
Gary, thanks for the input, I’m sure that establishment of these NWSG will
be an adaptive process.
Sergio
*From:* eloshwg-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <eloshwg-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> *On
Behalf Of *Kearns, Amy
*Sent:* Monday, September 20, 2021 8:51 AM
*To:* eloshwg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [eloshwg] Re: LOSH and Native Warm Season Grasses
Sergio,
Any possibility the land on the WMA could be grazed? Grazing would help
make the area more attractive to shrikes and is compatible with scattered,
isolated trees and shrubs.
*Amy Kearns*
Assistant Ornithologist
Indiana Division of Fish & Wildlife
562 DNR Rd Mitchell IN 47446 <x-apple-data-detectors://1/0>
akearns@xxxxxxxxxx <http://mc/compose?to=akearns@xxxxxxxxxx>
(812) 849-4586 ext. 223 (office)
(812) 844-3042 (cell)
*www.dnr.IN.gov <http://www.dnr.in.gov/>*
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On Sep 17, 2021, at 4:09 PM, gary langell <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
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------------------------------
Not knowing annual precipitation rates in your area makes inference
difficult. I would think during the first couple of years after
establishment the bare ground component of the clump (native) grasses would
be beneficial. However, native grass stands can become pretty thick rather
quickly. Indiana typically receives 30 to 35 inches of precipitation
annually, which causes native grass plantings to become very dense
very quickly. How long the stand maintains the bare ground component will
not only depend on annual precipitation, but the frequency of prescribed
fire, the timing of the fire as well as if cool season grasses have invaded
the stand. Fire prescriptions will need to be focused on controlling cool
season grass invasion in the spring as well as stressing the native grasses
when they are actively growing (summer) to keep them from spreading outward
and filling in the spaces between clumps. That’s a tough assignment,
requiring spring fire to control the cool season grasses and late summer
burn to limit the spread of the native grasses.
If the shrubs are planted in clumps, then fire breaks can be established
around the clumps as part of the fire prescription plan.
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Gary Langell
(812) 360-3627
On Friday, September 17, 2021, 2:39 PM, Sergio Harding <
sergio.harding@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello All,
Here in VA, LOSH are found in grazed pastures that are mostly planted to
fescue and orchard grass. We are looking into doing some potential habitat
mgmt. for shrike in an existing open area on one of our WMAs, in the
vicinity of an area with plenty of privately-owned pastures with some
recent LOSH sightings. Separate from habitat improvement for shrike, the
WMA managers are working toward establishing native warm season grasses
(NWSG) on at least a portion of that WMA opening, so some burning has taken
place to prep the site. I am curious as to whether NWSG make for good
LOSH habitat, as I have never worked in a native grass system with LOSH.
Prior to the European colonization of N. America there were no non-native
plant species, and there were shrikes on the landscape, so it seems that
there should be compatibility between the two. In addition, I’m thinking
that the fact that these native grasses are bunch grasses would potentially
allow for areas of bare ground between the bunches, which could benefit
LOSH. But I’m looking for input that goes beyond these broad
generalizations, if anyone has any.
In addition, there’s also the issue of periodic (every 2-3 years) burns for
the grasses, which might interfere with shrub establishment within the
field – scattered shrub plantings in the field is something I was going to
be looking at in order to improve it for shrike.
Thanks in advance for any input you can provide!
Sergio
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*Sergio Harding*
*Nongame Bird Conservation Biologist*
*P* 804.367.0143 / *M* 804.517.5814
*Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources*
*CONSERVE. CONNECT. PROTECT.*
*A* 7870 Villa Park Drive, P.O. Box 90778, Henrico, VA 23228-0778
*www.dwr.virginia.gov <http://www.dwr.virginia.gov/>*
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