The importance of superior-quality wildlife habitats

While animals may use many habitat types, relatively few are preferred and fewer yet are superior in quality (referring to individual fitness as the measure of quality). Historical reduction in habitat quality for some wildlife species has occurred such that we may now have limited reference to original superior-quality habitats. As time passes, managers may be unaware that superior habitats are slowly disappearing and that the slow but cumulative change is significant to a species at the population level. The perception of superior-quality habitat also changes with each successive generation of managers based on their experiences. This paper raises the concern that retrospective work may often be required to determine past forest habitats and associated animal populations to avoid the risk of falling into a trap of not recognizing ever-declining habitat quality through time and relegating animals to what is in fact much poorer quality habitat than those to which they are actually best adapted. Further, the relationship between relative abundance and habitat quality may often be uncertain owing to maladaptive habitat selection by animals, inappropriate survey timing or interannual population differences. While we have begun to appreciate aspects of habitat selection for many forest species, few data are yet available that relate selected habitats to fitness of individual animals. Hence, while we may have models to predict habitat use, considerable research remains to be done to be able to predict long-term sustainability of species in managed landscapes. Key words: habitat quality, forest management, sustainability, biodiversity