Mike Weinstein

Most researchers arbitrarily delineate study areas even though a quantitative estimate of study area size can be generated from capture and subsequent locations of radio-equipped animals. Arbitrary delineation may result in biased estimates of density. Density is often determined with capture-mark-recapture designs that do not include locational data from radio-equipped animals. We used logistic regression to determine probability of recapture of radio-equipped wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) hens based on pre-sample distances from bait sites for hens using and not using baited sites. We...

We examined plant species richness and species overlap among 3 site preparation treatments (roll-chop and burn, imazapyr and burn, and imazapyr only) and a mature pine-hardwood forest during 2 years following site preparation in east-central Mississippi. Treatments were applied beginning June 1990. Inventory of plant species in 2 to 5 1.6-ha plots/treatment was completed in spring 1991 and 1992. Species richness did not differ among treatments or between treatments and pine-hardwood forest (P = 0.31). Similarity indices showed no apparent grouping among treatments. All values were...

Analyses of movement patterns of free-ranging animals derived via radiotelemetry assumes that capture has no effect on the parameters of interest. To mitigate against potential biases, many researchers will censor locational data for an arbitrary post-capture duration (e.g., 2 weeks). To investigate validity of this assumption, we compared home range size, average inter-location distance, dispersion, and total distance moved between hens captured in a given interval to those captured in previous intervals. Data were from winter-captured hens in Kemper County, Mississippi, 1986-1992. No...

Wildlife researchers often assume capturing and marking do not influence marked animals' behavior, but this assumption is seldom tested. Therefore, we investigated effects of capture on reproductive success of eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) in east-central Mississippi. Hens were captured by cannon net, wing-tagged, radio-marked, and released between January and March 1990-1993. Marked and unmarked hens were observed at July and August bait sites 1990-1993; those observed with ≥ 1 poult were classified as reproductively successful. Hens captured during January-March,...

To determine effects of land use and management practices on wild turkey {Meleagris gallapovo) populations, managers need reliable, low-cost methods to estimate absolute and relative densities. Therefore, we evaluated estimation ability of 4 models using wild turkey capture data from 1986-1993 and summer bait site observations from 1990-1993 in Kemper County, Mississippi. Capture-markrecapture models performed worse (i.e., higher coefficients of variance) than capture-mark-resight models. Estimates from 1 resighting model were biased from non-homogenous capture probabilities in most...