Air 

Tree canopy 
Tree bole 
Shrub 

Terr. surface 
Terr. subsurf. 


Water surface 
Secondary consumers 
Water column 
Bottom water 
column 
Feeding strata 
Tree canopy 
Tree bole 
Shrub 
Terr. surface 
Terr. subsurf. — 
Water surface 
Water column | 
> 
Primary consumers 




Terr. subsurf. ria : 
Water surface 
Terr. surface 
i) 




- eat 
— ial 
(™ | 
VU 
Breeds 
elsewhere 
Shrub 
Breeding strata 
Fig. 6. The positions occupied by individual vertebrate species within the super cells of the species-habitat matrix for upland grassland 
habitats. 
useful habitat is indicated in Figs. 6-8. This increasing 
complexity is a function of the availability of more strata, 
the increased number of species occurring in a given habi- 
tat, and the fact that some species will use a greater 
variety of strata when they are available. 
The size of an ellipse within a habitat indicates the rela- 
tive degree of specialization of a species and the shortest 
axis of the ellipse indicates whether greatest specialization 
occurs in requirements for breeding or feeding. Species 
represented by ellipses that are contained within a single 
habitat stratum can be expected to be adversely impacted 
by destruction of that stratum and favored by its enhance- 
ment. The effects of managing strata on wildlife species 
can therefore be predicted from the graphics representa- 
tions. For example, overgrazing on the terrestrial surface 
stratum, use of phytochemicals in sagebrush eradication, 
or broad-scale chaining of pinyon-juniper habitats would 
destroy habitats for species whose ecological requirements 
are summarized by small ellipses in the terrestrial surface 
or shrub strata of these respective types of habitat. Strata 
management, such as the retention of suitable tree boles or 
snags, may therefore benefit nesting species with require- 
ments for that particular stratum. 
Species represented by small ellipses within a single 
