W. Mark Ford

EFFECT OF HABITAT AND FORAGING HEIGHT ON BAT ACTIVITY IN THE COASTAL PLAIN OF SOUTH CAROLINA

Abstract We compared bat activity levels in the Coastal Plain of South Carolina among 5 habitat types: forested riparian areas, clearcuts, young pine plantations, mature pine plantations, and pine savannas. We used time-expansion radio-microphones and integrated detectors to simultaneously monitor bat activity at 3 heights (30, 10, 2 m) in each habitat type. Variation in vegetative clutter among sampling heights and among habitat types allowed us to examine the differential effect of forest vegetation on the spatial activity patterns of clutter-adapted and open-adapted bat species. Moreover, monitoring activity at 30, 10, and 2 m permitted us to also compare bat activity above and below the forest canopy. We detected calls of 5 species or species groups: eastern red/Seminole bats (Lasiurus borealis/L. seminolus), eastern pipistrelles (Pipistrellus subflavus), evening bats (Nycticeius humeralis), big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus), and hoary bats (Lasiurus cinerius). At 2 and 10 m, bat activity was concentrated in riparian areas, whereas we detected relatively low levels of bat activity in upland habitats at those heights. Activity was more evenly distributed across the landscape at 30 m. Bat activity levels above the forest canopy were almost 3 times greater than within or below the canopy. We detected significantly greater activity levels of 2 open-adapted species (hoary and big brown bats) above rather than within or below the forest canopy. However, activity levels of 2 clutter-adapted species (eastern red/Seminole bats and eastern pipistrelles) did not differ above, within, or below the forest canopy. Despite classification as a clutter-adapted species, evening bat activity was greater above rather than within or below the forest canopy. We believe our results highlight the importance of riparian areas as foraging habitat for bats in pine-dominated landscapes in the southeastern United States. Although acoustical surveys conducted below forest canopies can provide useful information about species composition and relative activity levels of bats that forage in cluttered environments, our results showing activity above canopy suggest that such data may not accurately reflect relative activity of bats adapted to forage in more open conditions, and therefore may provide an inaccurate picture of bat community assemblage and foraging habitat use.

Effects of group selection silviculture in bottomland hardwoods on the spatial activity patterns of bats

Abstract The effects of forest management practices on the spatial activity patterns of bats are poorly understood. We determined the effect of group selection timber harvests on the spatial activity patterns of bats below the forest canopy at the Savannah River Site, Aiken, SC, using the Anabat system. We monitored the effect of group selection timber harvests on feeding and foraging activity of bats at three spatial scales: among habitats within a landscape, among harvested and unharvested areas in the stand where patches were harvested, and within an individual gap. Habitats examined included Carolina bays, unharvested bottomland hardwoods, bottomland hardwoods in which a group selection harvest occurred, and upland stands containing a hardwood/pine mix. Within the harvested stand, we compared the level of foraging and feeding activity among large patch cuts (gaps), small gaps, skidder trails, and forested areas. Within the large gaps, we compared activity among the center of the gap, the edge of the gap, and the forest surrounding the gap. Levels of bat activity differed among stands. More activity occurred in the bottomland stand in which patches had been harvested and around Carolina bays than in unharvested stands of bottomland hardwoods and upland hardwoods and pines. Levels of bat activity also differed among harvested and unharvested areas within the stand and among different positions within gaps and the surrounding forest. Activity was concentrated in forest gaps and along skidder trails. Within gaps, activity was concentrated along the edge between the gap and forest. Spatial activity patterns also depended on the species of bat. These results suggest that the inclusion of gaps in bottomland hardwoods increases the total level of foraging and feeding activity of bats below the canopy. They also suggest differences in the size and shape of the harvest affect the total amount of bat activity recorded in the gap and that these effects may be species specific.

Roost tree selection by northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) maternity colonies in an industrial forest of the central Appalachian mountains

As part of a bat ecology research effort in managed forests, we tracked seven lactating northern long-eared bats (Myotis septentrionalis Trouessart) to 12 roost trees used by maternity colonies ranging in size from 11 to 65 individuals in the central Appalachians of West Virginia. Lactating females switched among roosts on average every 5 days. Roosts were located in nine tree species, with 11 roosts in tree cavities and 1 under exfoliating bark. Eight of the roosts were located in snags; the other four were located in cavities in living trees. Black locust (Robinia pseudo-acacia L.) snags were selected as a roost sites more than expected based on their occurrence in the forests we surveyed. Only 3 of the 24 habitat characteristics differed between actual roost trees and randomly located cavity trees. Structurally, actual roosts tended to be closer to neighboring trees than did suitable roosts in randomly located cavity trees. Tree species was an important factor that influenced roost tree selection, with black locusts being used significantly more than expected based on their abundance across the managed forest landscape we studied. All northern long-eared bat roosts were located in or below the forest canopy which suggests that solar exposure may not be as critical for selection of roost trees by maternity colonies of this species as opposed to other species of tree-roosting bat at more northern latitudes in North America. Although many previous studies have demonstrated the importance of old-growth habitat in providing roosting habitat for tree-roosting bats, use of roosting habitat and characteristics of roost sites have been little documented within intensively managed forests. Our research indicates that in managed, Allegheny hardwood-northern hardwood forests of the central Appalachians, short-lived, early successional species such as black locust may provide suitable roosting habitat for northern long-eared bats, as well as other species of bats. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Stand age and habitat influences on salamanders in Appalachian cove hardwood forests

We surveyed cove hardwood stands aged 15, 25, 50, and ≥85 years following clearcutting in the southern Appalachian Mountains of northern Georgia to assess the effects of stand age and stand habitat characteristics on salamander communities using drift-fence array and pitfall methodologies from May 1994 to April 1995. Over a 60,060 pitfall trapnight effort, we collected 3937 salamanders represented by Desmognathus aeneus, Desmognathus monticola, Desmognathus ocoee, Desmognathus quadramaculatus, Eurycea bislineata, Gyrinophilus porphyriticus, Pseudotriton ruber, Plethodon glutinosus, Plethodon serratus, and Notophthalmus viridescens. Analysis of covariance with pitfall array to stream distance as the covariate showed that salamander species richness and diversity measures and numbers of Desmognathus aeneus and Desmognathus ocoee were highest in stands ≥85 years. Eurycea bislineata and Plethodon glutinosus were more abundant in stands ≤50 years old than in stands ≥85 years. Within cove hardwood stands, species richness and diversity measures and relative abundances of Desmognathus spp. and Gyrinophilus porphyriticus were negatively correlated with distance to stream. Species richness and diversity were positively correlated to amounts of emergent rock. Species richness, diversity and relative abundances of Desmognathus spp. were correlated with basal area within stands and extent of connected mesic, cove hardwood habitat and amount of cove habitat within 1 km radius among stands. Eurycea bislineata was negatively correlated with landform index, a measure of surrounding landform sheltering, and Plethodon glutinosus was positively correlated with elevation in cove hardwood stands. Our research indicates stand age is an important factor in explaining the abundance and community composition of salamanders in southern Appalachian cove hardwood communities. Because southern Appalachian woodland salamander communities are slow to recover and are substantially changed following disturbances such as clearcutting, populations in small, isolated cove hardwood stands might be more vulnerable to extirpation or may require longer recovery times than those in larger coves. Managers may need to assess habitat features such as cove extent and habitat connectivity to minimize impacts on these taxa by forest management activities in southern Appalachian cove hardwood communities.

Stand-age, stand characteristics, and landform effects on understory herbaceous communities in southern Appalachian cove-hardwoods

Abstract We surveyed cove-hardwood stands aged 15, 25, 50 and ⩾85 years in the southern Appalachian Mountains of northern Georgia to assess the effects of stand-age, stand characteristics, and landform on understory herbaceous communities from April to September 1995. Of 69 species and/or genera of spring–late summer herbaceous flora recorded, only four species abundances differed among stand-ages surveyed. Disporum lanuginosum was more abundant in older stands than in younger stands. Tiarella cordifolia was absent in 25-year-old stands, but common in 15, 50, and ⩾85-year-old stands, and Lysimachia quadrifolia and Potentilla canadensis were more common in 25-year-old stands than in older stands and 15-year-old stands. Species richness, diversity, and evenness values did not differ by stand-age. Stand characteristics and landform variables that were related to herb species richness, diversity, and evenness values included stand basal area, mean percent canopy cover, extent of connected cove habitat, and area of cove habitat within 1 km radius of surveyed stands. Our results indicate that landscape measures such as patch size or extent of similar habitat, and connectivity to other suitable patches or habitats may be important considerations for assessing understory herbaceous community recovery following disturbances such as forest management activities.

Summer habitat use and home-range analysis of the endangered Indiana bat

JENNIFER M. MENZEL,1 U.S. Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station, Parsons, WV 26287, USA W. MARK FORD, U.S. Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station, Parsons, WV 26287, USA MICHAEL A. MENZEL, Alston & Bird, LLP, Atlanta, GA 30309, USA TIMOTHY C. CARTER, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62966, USA JAMES E. GARDNER, Missouri Department of Conservation, Jefferson City, MO 65102, USA JAMES D. GARNER, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Springfield, IL 62702, USA JOYCE E. HOFMANN, University of Illinois Museum of Natural History, Champaign, IL 61820, USA

Proceedings: the role of fire for nongame wildlife management and community restoration: traditional uses and new directions

Contains 16 papers and 4 abstracts on the use of fire for nongame wildlife management and rare plant community management in restoration in the United States with an emphasis on forested systems.

Developing a habitat model for the endangered Virginia northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus) in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia

We examined occurrence patterns and habitat data for the Virginia northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus) in the central Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, USA with the intent to develop a habitat model. Topographic conditions (elevation, landform index, surface curvature, slope gradient and aspect) and proximity to coniferous cover were evaluated for three study areas where flying squirrel presence has been documented via nest box surveys. In our model, Virginia northern flying squirrel presence was associated with proximity to conifer cover (P<0.001), but not to any other habitat variables tested. We developed a logistic regression model and implemented that within a geographic information system to delineate potential habitat. Statistical relations were not sufficient to predict flying squirrel occurrence with a reasonable degree of confidence. Current nest box monitoring efforts provide needed year-to-year population trend information, however, they are not sufficient to delineate potential habitat using quantitative approaches. More detailed micro- and macro-habitat relationship studies of the Virginia northern flying squirrel will be necessary for successful management and eventual recovery of this endangered species.

Soricid abundance in partial overstory removal harvests and riparian areas in an industrial forest landscape of the central Appalachians

Abstract Within eastern North America, soricid (shrew) diversity reaches its peak in the central and southern Appalachians. Though shrews are an important component of Appalachian mammalian fauna, most species are small, cryptic, and little studied. The understanding of basic life history and habitat preferences is considered problematic. To assess the response of soricids to partial overstory timber harvest, and to investigate the importance of riparian areas to soricids, we conducted pitfall trapping surveys during the summers of 1996–1998 in the Westvaco Ecosystem Research Forest. Pitfall transect lines were established in uncut control forest stands in upland sites, along uncut forest stands in riparian areas, and in upland stands subjected to heavy diameter-limit cutting or two-aged regeneration methods. Diameter-limit and two-aged regeneration harvests occurred in 1996 following our initial pitfall survey effort. Riparian areas were surveyed within the area that would constitute a Streamside Management Zone under West Virginia’s Best Management Practices guidelines. During 10,560 trapnights, we collected masked shrews (Sorex cinereus), rock shrews (S. dispar), smokey shrews (S. fumeus), pygmy shrews (S. hoyi), and northern short-tailed shrews (Blarina brevicauda). Of species collected in sufficient numbers to analyze statistically across treatments, the relative abundance of masked shrews, smokey shrews, and northern short-tailed shrews did not differ among harvest sites and control sites for any year, either pre-harvest or post-harvest. Uncut, control sites had higher relative abundances than did riparian sites of masked shrews in 1996 and of smokey shrews in 1997. Collections of all species were poorly correlated with most micro-habitat variables we collected. Rock shrews were restricted to uncut upland sites at higher elevations with large amounts of emergent rock.

Home range and habitat use of the Vulnerable Virginia northern flying squirrel Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus in the Central Appalachian Mountains, USA

The Virginia northern flying squirrel Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus is a Vulnerable sciurid that has experienced a 90% reduction of suitable high elevation boreal montane forest habitat over the last century in the central Appalachians of West Virginia and Virginia, USA. Using radiotelemetry and GIs analyses we examined the species home range size and habitat use in the Monongahela National Forest, Kumbrabow State Forest and the MeadWeshiaco Ecosystem Research Forest in West Virginia during the summers of 2000-2003. The mean home range sizes of male and female squirrels were 54.2 and 15.3 ha, respectively, based on the adaptive kernel method. Euclidean distance analysis indicated the squirrels used spruce, mixed spruce-northern hardwood, and open habitats more than was available across the landscape. Selection of spruce and mixed spruce-northern hardwood habitats indicates that forest management activities designed to restore and increase these types in the central Appalachian landscape are required to conserve and increase this Vulnerable species.