Next-Generation Remote Sensing Data at Multiple Spatial Scales Improves Understanding of Habitat Selection by a Small Mammal.

Recent advances in optical remote sensing (RS) technology in combination with lightweight Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking devices now make analyzing the multi-scale habitat selection (HS) of small mammals < 2 kg possible. However, there have been relatively few multi-scale HS studies integrating fine-scale RS data with data-rich, GPS-derived movement data from small mammals. This is critical because small mammals commonly select habitat features across multiple scales.

Prey species increase activity in refugia free of terrestrial predators.

The decline of terrestrial predator populations across the globe is altering top-down pressures that drive predator-prey interactions. However, a knowledge gap remains in understanding how removing terrestrial predators affects prey behavior. Using a bifactorial playback experiment, we exposed fox squirrels to predator (red-tailed hawks, coyotes, dogs) and non-predator control (Carolina wren) calls inside terrestrial predator exclosures, accessible to avian predators, and in control areas subject to ambient predation risk.

Cryptosporidium serpentis Surveillance in Free-Ranging Snakes to Inform a Reintroduction Strategy for the Eastern Indigo Snake (Drymarchon couperi).

Understanding risk factors associated with reintroductions is important for making informed decisions within an adaptive framework. Biosecurity measures minimizing the risk of the introduction or spread of transmissible diseases are a priority when considering the release of captive-reared wildlife. Eastern indigo snake (EIS; Drymarchon couperi) reintroductions have been occurring in Alabama since 2010 and in Florida since 2017.

Fire as a driver and mediator of predator-prey interactions.

Both fire and predators have strong influences on the population dynamics and behaviour of animals, and the effects of predators may either be strengthened or weakened by fire. However, knowledge of how fire drives or mediates predator-prey interactions is fragmented and has not been synthesised. Here, we review and synthesise knowledge of how fire influences predator and prey behaviour and interactions.

Prey tells, large herbivores fear the human 'super predator'.

Fear of the human 'super predator' has been demonstrated to so alter the feeding behavior of large carnivores as to cause trophic cascades. It has yet to be experimentally tested if fear of humans has comparably large effects on the feeding behavior of large herbivores. We conducted a predator playback experiment exposing white-tailed deer to the vocalizations of humans, extant or locally extirpated non-human predators (coyotes, cougars, dogs, wolves), or non-predator controls (birds), at supplemental food patches to measure the relative impacts on deer feeding behavior.

The importance of termites and fire to dead wood consumption in the longleaf pine ecosystem.

Microbes, insects, and fire are the primary drivers of wood loss from most ecosystems, but interactions among these factors remain poorly understood. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that termites and fire have a synergistic effect on wood loss from the fire-adapted longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) ecosystem in the southeastern United States.

Low- and moderate-severity fire offers key insights for landscape restoration in ponderosa pine forests.

Restoration goals in fire-prone conifer forests include mitigating fire hazard while restoring forest structural components linked to disturbance resilience and ecological function. Restoration of overstory spatial pattern in forests often falls short of management objectives due to complexities in implementation, regulation, and available data. When historical data is available, it is often collected at plots too small to inform coarse-scale metrics like gap size and structure of tree patches (e.

Effects of Bait on Male White-Tailed Deer Resource Selection.

Bait is often used to increase wildlife harvest susceptibility, enhance viewing opportunities, and survey wildlife populations. The effects of baiting depend on how bait influences space use and resource selection at multiple spatial scales. Although telemetry studies allow for inferences about resource selection within home ranges (third-order selection), they provide limited information about spatial variation in density, which is the result of second-order selection.

Deer movement and resource selection during Hurricane Irma: implications for extreme climatic events and wildlife.

Extreme climatic events (ECEs) are increasing in frequency and intensity and this necessitates understanding their influence on organisms. Animal behaviour may mitigate the effects of ECEs, but field studies are rare because ECEs are infrequent and unpredictable. Hurricane Irma made landfall in southwestern Florida where we were monitoring white-tailed deer () with GPS collars.

Warmer temperatures reduce net carbon uptake, but do not affect water use, in a mature southern Appalachian forest.

Increasing air temperature is expected to extend growing season length in temperate, broadleaf forests, leading to potential increases in evapotranspiration and net carbon uptake. However, other key processes affecting water and carbon cycles are also highly temperature-dependent. Warmer temperatures may result in higher ecosystem carbon loss through respiration and higher potential evapotranspiration through increased atmospheric demand for water.

Abiotic and biotic factors modulate carrion fate and vertebrate scavenging communities.

Carrion is a valuable nutrient resource used by a diversity of vertebrates across the globe. However, vertebrate scavenging ecology remains an understudied area of science, especially in regards to how biotic and abiotic factors influence scavenging community composition. Here we elucidate how fundamental biotic and abiotic factors interact to modulate the efficiency and composition of vertebrate scavengers by investigating scavenging dynamics across a large gradient in carcass sizes and habitat types representative of many temperate ecosystems, as well as between two seasons reflecting differences in invertebrate activity.

Ectomycorrhizal fungal mycelia turnover in a longleaf pine forest.

Elucidation of the patterns and controls of carbon (C) flow and nitrogen (N) cycling in forests has been hindered by a poor understanding of ectomycorrhizal fungal mycelia (EFM) dynamics. In this study, EFM standing biomass (based on soil ergosterol concentrations), production (based on ergosterol accrual in ingrowth cores), and turnover rate (the quotient of annual production and average standing biomass estimates) were assessed in a 25-yr-old longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) plantation where C flow was manipulated by foliar scorching and N fertilization for 5 yr before study initiation. In the controls, EFM standing biomass was 30 ± 7 g m(-2) , production was 279 ± 63 g m(-2)  yr(-1) , and turnover rate was 10 ± 3 times yr(-1) .

Stable isotope analysis of larval mosquito diets in agricultural wetlands in the coastal plain of Georgia, U.S.A.

Previous studies have used C and N isotope ratios to investigate the use of different food resources such as plant and animal detritus by container-breeding mosquitoes. This study is the first to report on the potential food resources assimilated by larval mosquitoes in agricultural and reference wetlands. Larval mosquitoes (Diptera: Culcidae) were sampled, along with their potential food resources, from agricultural and reference wetland habitats throughout a seasonal hydroperiod.

Snake co-occurrence patterns are best explained by habitat and hypothesized effects of interspecific interactions.

Snakes often occur in species-rich assemblages, and sympatry is thought to be facilitated primarily by low diet overlap, not interspecific interactions. We selected, a priori, three species pairs consisting of species that are morphologically and taxonomically similar and may therefore be likely to engage in interspecific, consumptive competition. We then examined a large-scale database of snake detection/nondetection data and used occupancy modelling to determine whether these species occur together more or less frequently than expected by chance while accounting for variation in detection probability among species and incorporating important habitat categories in the models.

Reptile assemblage response to restoration of fire-suppressed longleaf pine sandhills.

Measuring the effects of ecological restoration on wildlife assemblages requires study on broad temporal and spatial scales. Longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forests are imperiled due to fire suppression and subsequent invasion by hardwood trees. We employed a landscape-scale, randomized-block design to identify how reptile assemblages initially responded to restoration treatments including removal of hardwood trees via mechanical methods (felling and girdling), application of herbicides, or prescribed burning alone.

Bird assemblage response to restoration of fire-suppressed longleaf pine sandhills.

The ecological restoration of fire-suppressed habitats may require a multifaceted approach. Removal of hardwood trees together with reintroduction of fire has been suggested as a method of restoring fire-suppressed longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forests; however, this strategy, although widespread, has not been evaluated on large spatial and temporal scales. We used a landscape-scale experimental design to examine how bird assemblages in fire-suppressed longleaf pine sandhills responded to fire alone or fire following mechanical removal or herbicide application to reduce hardwood levels.

Landscape-level influences of terrestrial snake occupancy within the southeastern United States.

Habitat loss and degradation are thought to be the primary drivers of species extirpations, but for many species we have little information regarding specific habitats that influence occupancy. Snakes are of conservation concern throughout North America, but effective management and conservation are hindered by a lack of basic natural history information and the small number of large-scale studies designed to assess general population trends. To address this information gap, we compiled detection/nondetection data for 13 large terrestrial species from 449 traps located across the southeastern United States, and we characterized the land cover surrounding each trap at multiple spatial scales (250-, 500-, and 1000-m buffers).