APPLIED ECOLOGY 345 



Wildlife.— Like soil, water, and forests, our wildlife constitutes a 

 renewable natural resource, which, consequently, can be restored 

 or maintained even while it is used, if the use is a wise one. All of 

 these renewable resources are so intimately related that a program 

 for the conservation of one must necessarily consider the others 

 as well. This ecological point of view is fully appreciated by lead- 

 ers in wildlife management. It is also realized that, when man be- 

 comes the dominant organism, the management of soil, water, 

 forests, and grassland is inevitable— and wildlife, too, if it is to be 

 preserved. 



If wildlife management is to be successful, man must know the 

 ecology of the species involved, whether they are fish, birds, or 

 game animals. Life cycles must be known, as must breeding habits, 

 food habits, and food chains, migration routes, preferred habitats, 

 diseases, predators, population trends, and the carrying capacities 

 of given habitats. Such complete information is not yet available. 

 "In its present state, wildlife management is an effort to apply to 

 urgent problems the ecological and biological data that are now 

 available, always with the consciousness that existing tools, meth- 

 ods, and processes may have to be discarded as new and better in- 

 formation becomes available!' 100 Ecological knowledge is still woe- 

 fully incomplete for most of our wildlife, although information 

 accumulates steadily. As it accumulates, programs of management 

 increase in effectiveness. 



The range of ecological problems related to wildlife manage- 

 ment is tremendous. The complexity of management can perhaps 

 be suggested by indicating some of the kinds of things that must 

 be taken into consideration. It would seem that, if food and cover 

 are provided for an organism, its needs should be satisfied. But, for 

 many species, the feeding habits are inadequately known. Cover 

 can be provided for some species but, under present conditions, 

 frequently only in localized areas. If that is true, it is not uncom- 

 mon for food problems to become complicated during the winter 

 months when the species tends to become concentrated on these 

 restricted areas. A population that is reasonable in summer may 

 become excessive in winter and result in death by starvation for 

 many individuals. Encouraging the increase of one species may be 

 detrimental to another one; consequently, individual species must 



