Dean F. Stauffer

We evaluated short-term effects of prescribed burning of clearcuts on potential ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) brood habitat in oak-hickory forests in western Virginia. We divided six <1-year-old clearcuts into two portions and designated one portion for prescribed burning during late fall or winter. Because of dry conditions, only four treatment areas were burned. We monitored habitat conditions on burned and unburned portions of clearcuts during the growing season preceding treatment and during the two subsequent growing seasons. Excessive coarse woody debris (CWD) can hinder...

We examined the relationships of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) to agricultural land uses in the Virginia Piedmont during 1986-1987. Bobwhite were censused and the associated habitat components quantified at 121 roadside census stations. Relative quail densities decreased (P < 0.05) from 1986 to 1987. A multiple regression model (R2 = 0.43) relating relative density of quail at stations to adjacent habitat found positive (P < 0.10) relationships for fallow croplands and other miscellaneous, uncommon cover types, and negative (P < 0.10) relationships for mown lawns and 3...