WILD 3600 EXAM 2 2025 QUESTIONS
AND ANSWERS
Managing Early Successional Areas for Wildlife - ANS - change in the plant community over
time
- Each succeeding plant community represents a seral stage (AKA successional stage)
Sere - ANS all of the collective plant communities on a given site
Importance of "seral stage" for... - ANS - Habitat specialists
- Habitat generalists
- Wildlife diversity
Food & Cover
Annual grasses and forbs (1-2)
seral stage 1 - ANS (grasses / weeds) crabgrass, foxtail, ragweed, rabbit-tobacco, poke weed,
pigweed, three-seeded mercury, burn weed, coffee weed, partridge pea
Wildlife:
(birds)
Killdeer, mourning dove, eastern meadowlark, dickcissel, grasshopper sparrow, Henslow's
sparrow, cotton rat, northern bobwhite, gopher tortoise, RCW, eastern indigo snake
1 @COPYRIGHT THEBRIGHT 2025/2026
,Perennial grasses and forbs, brambles (2-5)
seral stage 2 - ANS (grasses / NWSG)
Broomsedge, little bluestem, other NWSGs, bermuda grass, bahiagrass, johnsongrass,
Desmodium spp., lespedezas, goldenrod, dogfennel, blackberry
Wildlife:
Many of stage 1, + blue grosbeak, common yellowthroat, indigo bunting, prairie warbler,
eastern cottontail,
white-tailed deer,
wild turkey, etc.
Brambles, shrubs, and trees begin todominate (shade intolerant; 3-40+)
seral stage 3 - ANS (woody)
Eastern red cedar, Pinus spp., sweetgum, winged elm, persimmon, redbud, green ash, red
maple, yellow poplar, Blackberries, Japanese honeysuckle, trumpet creeper
Wildlife:
Deer, turkeys, eastern box turtle, timber rattlesnake, brown thrasher, eastern towhee, white-
eyed vireo, yellow-breasted chat
Longer lived tree species (may last >100 y)
seral stage 4 - ANS Oaks, hickories, maples, yellow-poplar, sweetgum
Blueberry and huckleberryUnderstory depends on disturbance (or lack thereof)
Wildlife
Many in stage 3, +
2 @COPYRIGHT THEBRIGHT 2025/2026
,red-eyed vireo, red-tailed hawk, eastern wood rat, southern flying squirrel, many salamanders,
chipmunks and
gray squirrels
Tree species able to regenerate in shade(requires 100+ y to develop)
seral stage 5 - ANS American beech, sugar maple, eastern hemlock, oaks, yellow poplar
-Midstory of shade tolerant species
-Understory of shade tolerant forbs, ferns, and sedges
WildlifeBlue-gray gnatchatcher, cerulean warbler, ruffed grouse,summer tanager, timber
rattlesnake, plus those from stage 4
What is an early successional area (E.S) ? - ANS - Places where E.S. plants dominate!
- Have less than 30% canopy coverage, but most have
much less
Common Types of E.S. Areas - ANS - Old-fields
- Abandoned agricultural fields
- Odd-areas
- Grasslands
- Savannas
- Native Warm Season Grass (NWSG) plantings
Why all the fuss about NWSGs? - ANS - Major component of E.S. communities.
- cover they provide, mostly for birds
- Little value as food source
3 @COPYRIGHT THEBRIGHT 2025/2026
, Open structure at ground level:
- Facilitates movement and feeding
- Reduces time spent moving/feeding
- Reduces exposure to the elements and predators
NWSGs also used for nesting - ANS May also remain erect into following growing season
- reduces thatch build-up
- nest sites:
• Henslow's and field sparrows
• Dickcissels
• Indigo buntings
We aren't growing grass, but it is an important component.. - ANS 50% grass coverage
optimum for most spp. reliant on this cover type
Other half of vegetative cover should be forbs and scattered shrubs
Breaking the Planting Mindset - ANS Planting NWSG used to be pushed by biologists
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
Resulted in:
- Wasted money
- Reduced habitat quality
- Problems with invasives
An Alternative Approach... - ANS Kill what you don't want, and leave what you do want!
Establishing E.S. Areas: Step 1 - ANS Evaluate the seedbank!
4 @COPYRIGHT THEBRIGHT 2025/2026
AND ANSWERS
Managing Early Successional Areas for Wildlife - ANS - change in the plant community over
time
- Each succeeding plant community represents a seral stage (AKA successional stage)
Sere - ANS all of the collective plant communities on a given site
Importance of "seral stage" for... - ANS - Habitat specialists
- Habitat generalists
- Wildlife diversity
Food & Cover
Annual grasses and forbs (1-2)
seral stage 1 - ANS (grasses / weeds) crabgrass, foxtail, ragweed, rabbit-tobacco, poke weed,
pigweed, three-seeded mercury, burn weed, coffee weed, partridge pea
Wildlife:
(birds)
Killdeer, mourning dove, eastern meadowlark, dickcissel, grasshopper sparrow, Henslow's
sparrow, cotton rat, northern bobwhite, gopher tortoise, RCW, eastern indigo snake
1 @COPYRIGHT THEBRIGHT 2025/2026
,Perennial grasses and forbs, brambles (2-5)
seral stage 2 - ANS (grasses / NWSG)
Broomsedge, little bluestem, other NWSGs, bermuda grass, bahiagrass, johnsongrass,
Desmodium spp., lespedezas, goldenrod, dogfennel, blackberry
Wildlife:
Many of stage 1, + blue grosbeak, common yellowthroat, indigo bunting, prairie warbler,
eastern cottontail,
white-tailed deer,
wild turkey, etc.
Brambles, shrubs, and trees begin todominate (shade intolerant; 3-40+)
seral stage 3 - ANS (woody)
Eastern red cedar, Pinus spp., sweetgum, winged elm, persimmon, redbud, green ash, red
maple, yellow poplar, Blackberries, Japanese honeysuckle, trumpet creeper
Wildlife:
Deer, turkeys, eastern box turtle, timber rattlesnake, brown thrasher, eastern towhee, white-
eyed vireo, yellow-breasted chat
Longer lived tree species (may last >100 y)
seral stage 4 - ANS Oaks, hickories, maples, yellow-poplar, sweetgum
Blueberry and huckleberryUnderstory depends on disturbance (or lack thereof)
Wildlife
Many in stage 3, +
2 @COPYRIGHT THEBRIGHT 2025/2026
,red-eyed vireo, red-tailed hawk, eastern wood rat, southern flying squirrel, many salamanders,
chipmunks and
gray squirrels
Tree species able to regenerate in shade(requires 100+ y to develop)
seral stage 5 - ANS American beech, sugar maple, eastern hemlock, oaks, yellow poplar
-Midstory of shade tolerant species
-Understory of shade tolerant forbs, ferns, and sedges
WildlifeBlue-gray gnatchatcher, cerulean warbler, ruffed grouse,summer tanager, timber
rattlesnake, plus those from stage 4
What is an early successional area (E.S) ? - ANS - Places where E.S. plants dominate!
- Have less than 30% canopy coverage, but most have
much less
Common Types of E.S. Areas - ANS - Old-fields
- Abandoned agricultural fields
- Odd-areas
- Grasslands
- Savannas
- Native Warm Season Grass (NWSG) plantings
Why all the fuss about NWSGs? - ANS - Major component of E.S. communities.
- cover they provide, mostly for birds
- Little value as food source
3 @COPYRIGHT THEBRIGHT 2025/2026
, Open structure at ground level:
- Facilitates movement and feeding
- Reduces time spent moving/feeding
- Reduces exposure to the elements and predators
NWSGs also used for nesting - ANS May also remain erect into following growing season
- reduces thatch build-up
- nest sites:
• Henslow's and field sparrows
• Dickcissels
• Indigo buntings
We aren't growing grass, but it is an important component.. - ANS 50% grass coverage
optimum for most spp. reliant on this cover type
Other half of vegetative cover should be forbs and scattered shrubs
Breaking the Planting Mindset - ANS Planting NWSG used to be pushed by biologists
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
Resulted in:
- Wasted money
- Reduced habitat quality
- Problems with invasives
An Alternative Approach... - ANS Kill what you don't want, and leave what you do want!
Establishing E.S. Areas: Step 1 - ANS Evaluate the seedbank!
4 @COPYRIGHT THEBRIGHT 2025/2026
