Wildlife use of no-till and conventionally tilled corn fields

D. B. Warburton; W. D. Klimstra

ABSTRACT:

A comparison of wildlife species and numbers associated with a no-till corn field and a conventionally tilled corn field showed invertebrates, birds, and small mammals to be more abundant in the no-till field throughout the growing season. A greater diversity and proportionately more predators were noted within the invertebrate community in no-till. A qualitative difference in avian species using each tillage system was observed. Small mammal populations, particularly that of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), appeared more stable in no-till. Generally, the no-till field provided better wildlife habitat than the conventional field.

Footnotes

D. B. Warburton is a graduate assistant and W. D. Klimstra is distinguished professor of zoology and director of the Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, 62901. The Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, sponsored this research under Project No. 13: Wildlife Habitat Evaluations. The authors thank Bob Schorn, Glen Garver, and Gale Garver for permitting use of their land as a study site, and John Roseberry and Alan Woolf for their review of the manuscript.
Copyright 1984 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society

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