Semester

Fall

Date of Graduation

2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design

Department

Wildlife and Fisheries Resources

Committee Chair

John W. Edwards.

Abstract

Foresters in West Virginia follow BMP guidelines by reseeding retired log landings with inexpensive grasses that quickly provide erosion control. However, these grasses typically are not native nor do they provide high quality forage for wildlife. I developed 3 native seed mixtures for log landing reclamation that would maintain sediment control, as well as enhance wildlife habitat. These mixtures included an erosion control mixture, a wildlife mixture, and a wildflower mixture. I assessed sediment control, biomass production, vegetation structure, forage quality, and small mammal usage of my native mixtures and a commonly used, nonnative traditional mixture in 2005 and 2006. No statistical analysis of sediments was conducted among mixtures due to small sample size (n = 6). There were no differences among mixtures in biomass production. The wildlife mixture was highest in crude protein, height and % cover among native seed mixtures. Small mammal relative abundance and species richness did not differ among mixtures. I used compromise programming analysis to find the best seed mixture for reclaiming log landings based on land management objectives. Objectives used for analysis included those of a private landowner interested in hunting, a private landowner interested in aesthetics, a timber company, and a wildlife manager. Among native mixtures, the wildlife mixture was best for all land management objectives. However, the non-native traditional mixture was the best of all 4 seed mixtures analyzed. These results suggest that although nonnative traditional mixtures produce adequate physical structure to control sediment and enhance wildlife habitat, native seed mixtures are capable of serving a similar function.

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