Habitat Classification-Assessments For Wildlife and Fish

Authors

Hal Salwasser, USDA Forest Service
William B. Krohn, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

1982

Comments

Published in TRANSACTIONS OF THE FORTY-SEVENTH NORTH AMERICAN WILDLIFE AND NATURAL RESOURCES CONFERENCE, ed. Kenneth Sabol (Washington, DC, 1982).

Abstract

Comprehensive planning and management of natural resources require the assessment of existing and future conditions offish and wildlife. Fish and wildlife, hereafter referred to as wildlife resources, can be inventoried and assessed either in terms of animals or habitats. Both approaches are useful given certain management objectives. For example, population inventories in concert with other data, are often used to assess the impacts of hunting. In contrast, habitat inventories are used to evaluate the impacts of grazing, or other land and water uses, on wildlife resources. Our objective is not to compare or contrast the two approaches, but to focus on habitat assessments and the growing need for wildlife resource managers to more effectively influence the planning and management of land and water (i.e., habitats).