Forests are large areas of land with trees. Overall, forests are the natural habitat of large-scale wildlife, growth of trees, shrubs, and different varieties of plants which, unfortunately, are dwindling every year. Hence, conservation of forest is an important responsibility that all of us must undertake. Almost 31% of the earth's land surface is covered by forests. According to a 2015 report, 23% of India's land cover consists of the forest region. Trees and plants in the forest are an integral part of the ecosystem. It sustains life on the planet, provides clean air and shelter. Also, forests help conserve biodiversity. Apart from keeping a check on the global temperature, forests also contribute towards preventing soil from getting eroded and sheltering more than 80% of the animal species and terrestrial biodiversity. They also aid in improving the socioeconomic aspects of a country. Wildlife refers to the animal species that are not domesticated. So, any living organism that lives in the forest region is associated with wildlife.
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Just like a collection of buildings devoid of human inhabitants does not make a city, a framework of trees alone does not make a forest ecosystem. Whereas the plant world is mostly sedentary, silent, and full of utilitarian hues of green for photosynthesis, wildlife enlivens forests with movement, sound, and color. Wildlife heavily influences forests via behaviors, including pollination, seed dispersal, and herbivory. Importantly, proper management of forest wildlife is contingent on a sound understanding of forest wildlife ecology.
Aldo Leopold, a forester, and wildlife conservationist, postulated that people have a right to use and manage forests wisely and the responsibility of doing so in a way that recognizes the intrinsic value people share with other species and the ecosystems that contain them. By this definition, Leopold captured the true essence of forest wildlife management; he identified that the conservation of forest products and wildlife could be simultaneously achieved. Indeed, forest management, when appropriately implemented, often provides the most practical means by which to manage forest wildlife habitat.
Forest management, especially timber harvest, alters succession and changes plant structure and composition, which in turn affects wildlife habitat. The ecological changes that accompany forest management in some part simulate the effects of natural disturbance on forest ecosystems, and therefore may affect wildlife similarly. Importantly, long-standing natural disturbance regimes have been altered by humans through means such as wildfire suppression and urbanization. As such, the natural disturbance regimes to which many wildlife species adapted to over millennia are far less common in today’s modern world. As described earlier, different wildlife species associate with different successional stages.
Hence, successional changes brought upon by timber harvest create or enhance habitat for some species while simultaneously diminishing habitat suitability for others. In other words, there are always “winners” and “losers.” For example, large-scale removal of trees in a mature stand via clearcutting shifts the vegetation community from late successional to early successional, in turn benefitting wildlife adapted to the conditions therein. Concurrently, late-successional wildlife, especially canopy dwellers, largely will be eliminated in the stand until the canopy redevelops. Because habitat requirements vary among wildlife species, providing habitat for all wildlife species at small spatial and temporal scales is implausible (Grodsky, Moorman, & Russell, 2015).
Therefore, forest wildlife managers should identify focal wildlife species or communities before initiating forest management practices and account for local variations in wildlife–habitat relationships or habitat planning for wildlife must be conducted at large spatial scales (i.e., thousands of hectares) (Leopold 1933). In this research article, we focus on the forest and wildlife management.