Managing for areas with multiple successional stages within a landscape is called interspersion.  Some species obtain all their habitat requirements from only one successional stage, but many wildlife species need more than one successional stage to provide all their habitat requirements.  Usually, greater interspersion in an area results in a greater variety of wildlife. 

Here’s another example.  Below are two areas of land.  A is the section that is an old field, B is shrubs, C is young woodlands, and D is mature woodlands.  Of the two land areas, which has higher interspersion?  Mouse over the correct diagram to find the answer.

Here’s another way to assess interspersion using an “interspersion index” principle.  This can be done using aerial photographs by counting the number of times the habitat changes along an imaginary north-south line across the widest part of the area, then along the widest east-west line.  Next, add these two numbers together to get an interspersion index value.  Compare this value with other areas.  The higher the value, the better for quail, rabbits, and other wildlife species that like areas with high interspersion.