Windbreaks for people: The wildlife connection

Excerpt

Properly designed windbreaks can increase farming profits, make homes more comfortable, protect livestock from winter winds or summer sun, and keep roads clear of drifting snow. In communities, they can shield school playgrounds, city parks, and outdoor work areas from wind, dust, and noise, as well as add beauty to the surroundings. Windbreaks benefit wildlife and in some areas are essential for survival of the wildlife we most enjoy, primarily “edge” species that thrive where two or more habitats come together. Songbirds such as Northern orioles (Icterus galbula), American robins (Turdus migratorius), brown thrashers (Toxostoma rufum); various woodpeckers; ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus); Northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus); and mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) are major users of windbreaks. Windbreaks provide migration stopover sites and other needs for many neotropical migrants, a group of birds nationally recognized to be in need of special conservation efforts. Cottontails (Sylvilagus spp.), squirrels (Sciurus spp.), and occasionally white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) also rely on windbreaks for food and protection.

Windbreaks offer the potential for reducing reliance on pesticides, without jeopardizing crop yields, by sustaining birds and other natural enemies of crop pests. Research is needed to better understand the relationships of economic significance among trees, crops, and…