Best Management Practices for Golden-winged Warbler Habitat in Shrub Wetlands of the Great Lakes
Shrub wetlands are extensive in the region, particularly in
the western Great Lakes. Not all shrub wetlands are occupied
by Golden-winged Warbler for a variety of reasons including
high water levels, lack of desired woody and herbaceous
vegetation patchiness, lack of scattered canopy trees, and
distance to upland deciduous forest. Dense mature stands of
unbroken woody shrub cover over large areas often are unsuitable.
Reduced flooding and beaver activity may be partially
responsible for these conditions and restoration of these
natural disturbance regimes could improve habitat quality. In
other cases, mechanical treatments provide the mechanism
for creating or restoring breeding habitat (Figure 1) and are
the focus of the included guidelines.
For this insert, shrub wetlands are defined as palustrine
wetlands dominated by broad-leaved deciduous woody vegetation
less than 20 feet tall. The species include true shrubs,
young trees, and scattered trees of varying size. See Table 1
for common dominant shrub and tree species.
Publication Date: 2013
DOWNLOAD FILE — PDF document, 254 kB (260,904 bytes)
