Minnesota School Forest Program

Lesson Title:Snags and Deadfalls

Name: Nancy Bruns

School E-mail:

School Forest: Walker-Hackensack-Akeley School Forest

Grade(s):7-12

Materials:

Objective(s):The goal of this lesson is for the audience to gain an appreciation of dead trees, both standing and fallen, and to understand the role these play in the cycle of life in a forest ecosystem.

  1. Describe the death cycle of a tree
  2. Identify a snag by sight during foliage season
  3. differentiate between snags and deadfalls
  4. Name at least three birds, animals, insects that live in or on a snag or deadfall
  5. Determine if a snag is considered dangerous or not

Procedure:

Introduction

  1. Presentation
  2. Definitions
  3. Cavity: a hole in a tree
  4. Snag: any tree or part of a tree that is dead or dying, usually leaf less
  5. Deadfall: any dead tree or part of a dead tree that is fallen to the ground
  6. Stewardship: The management of another’s property (taking care of something that isn’t ours)
  7. Life cycle of a tree
  8. Seed
  9. Sapling
  10. Mature tree
  11. Old Growth tree
  12. Visible, above ground tree is only half the tree
  13. Illness/death
  14. Death cycle
  15. Disease/injury/illness
  16. Death usually occurs from the inside out, top to bottom
  17. Snag, dead or dying part of tree, still above ground
  18. Deadfall, dead twig, branch, or truck that has fallen to the ground
  19. Nurse Tree, old stump that has a sapling growing out of it and is providing it with nutrients
  20. Duff/Nutrients/Soil
  21. Inhabitants of snags and deadfalls (Using a dry erase board, have participants name creatures that may be found in, on, or around dead trees.
  22. Animals,(raccoon, pine martin, squirrels (red and grey), deer mouse, woodchuck, fisher, rabbits, porcupine, snowshoe hare, black bear, bobcat, shrew, vole, bat), birds(woodpeckers, ducks, raptors, songbirds), insects, amphibians, reptiles, fungi, bacteria, and plant life
  23. Why remove a snag? Offer handout of Hazard trees
  24. Cleanliness
  25. Discourage “pest” animals
  26. But…. Will they end up in your shed, trailer, etc.?
  27. Dangerous for people, property/wires
  28. When to remove a snag?
  29. First, identify wildlife activity in/around the snag
  30. look for cavities, sawdust, or scat
  31. If necessary to remove, wait until fall to avoid babies and wintering animals
  32. How to remove a snag
  33. Is pruning an option
  34. Snag and Deadfall Hike
  35. Identify snags
  36. Identify different woodpecker signs
  37. Use field guides to identify critters seen
  38. Find a nurse tree
  39. Explore a deadfall

Conclusion – Review the critical role that dying and dead trees play in the cycle of life. Challenge attendees to become more observant of the ecosystem thriving in what they thought was just a dead, scraggly eyesore.

Table 1 - Cavity-nesting birds : tree use and major foods.
Snag or
Tree Use1 / Major Foods2
Common Name / A / B / C / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
Black-bellied whistling duck / X / X / X
Wood duck / X / X / X / X / X / X
Common goldeneye / X / X / X / X / X
Barrow's goldeneye / X / X / X / X / X
Bufflehead / X / X / X / X / X
Hooded merganser / X / X / X / X / X / X
Common merganser / X / X / X / X / X
Turkey vulture / X / X / X
Black vulture / X / X / X
Peregrine falcon3 / X / X / X
Merlin / X / X / X / X / X
American kestrel / X / X / X / X / X
Barn owl / X / X / X
Screech owl / X / X / X / X
Whiskered owl / X / X / X
Common Name / A / B / C / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
Flammulated owl / X / X / X
Hawk owl / X / X / X
Pygmy owl / X / X / X / X
Ferruginous owl / X / X / X
Elf owl / X / X / X
Barred owl / X / X / X
Spotted owl / X / X / X / X / X
Boreal owl / X / X / X
Saw-whet owl / X / X / X / X
Chimney swift / X / X
Vaux's swift / X / X / X
Coppery-tailed trogon / X / X / X / X
Common flicker / X / X / X / X
Pileated woodpecker / X / X / X / X
Red-bellied woodpecker / X / X / X / X / X
Golden-fronted woodpecker / X / X / X
Gila woodpecker / X / X / X
Common Name / . / A / B / C / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
Red-headed woodpecker / X / X / X / X / X
Acorn woodpecker / X / X / X / X / X
Lewis' woodpecker / X / X / X / X / X
Yellow-bellied sapsucker / X / X / X / X / X
Williamson's sapsucker / X / X / X / X
Hairy woodpecker / X / X / X / X
Downy woodpecker / X / X / X / X
Ladder-backed woodpecker / X / X / X
Nuttall's woodpecker / X / X / X
Arizona woodpecker / X / X / X / X / X
Red-cockaded woodpecker / X / X / X / X
White-headed woodpecker / X / X / X
Black-backed three-toed woodpecker / X / X / X
Northern three-toed woodpecker / X / X / X
Ivory-billed woodpecker3 / X / X / X / X
Common Name / A / B / C / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
Sulphur-bellied flycatcher / X / X / X
Great-crested flycatcher / X / X / X
Wied's crested flycatcher / X / X / X
Ash-throated flycatcher / X / X / X / X
Olivaceous flycatcher / X / X / X
Western flycatcher / X / X
Violet-green swallow / X / X / X
Tree swallow / X / X / X
Purple martin / X / X / X
Black-capped chickadee / X / X / X
Carolina chickadee / X / X / X
Mexican chickadee / X / X
Mountain chickadee / X / X / X
Grey-headed chickadee / X / X
Boreal chickadee / X / X / X / X
Chestnut-backed chickadee / X / X / X / X
Tufted titmouse / X / X / X
Common Name / A / B / C / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7
Plain titmouse / X / X / X
Bridled titmouse / X / X
White-breased nuthatch / X / X / X
Red-breased nuthatch / X / X / X
Brown-headed nuthatch / X / X / X
Pygmy nuthatch / X / X
Brown creeper / X / X / X
House wren / X / X
Brown-throated wren / X / X / X
Winter wren / X / X
Bewick's wren / X / X
Carolina wren / X / X
Eastern bluebird / X / X / X
Western bluebird / X / X / X / X
Mountain bluebird / X / X / X / X
Starling / X / X / X / X / X / X / X
Crested myna / X / X / X / X
Prothonotary warbler / X / X / X
Lucy's warbler / X / X
House sparrow / X / X / X / X / X / X
European tree sparrow / X / X / X
1 Snag or tree use: A: food B: nest C: perch.
2 Major foods: 1: birds 2:rodents 3: reptiles and amphibians 4: insects
5: seeds and fleshy fruits 6: vegetation 7: other or little known.
3 Threatened or endangered species.

Minnesota School Forest Program.

Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.

MN DNR is an Equal Opportunity Employer.