Robert A. Gitzen

Though the eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) is an important game species throughout its range in North America, little is known about environmental factors that may affect survival. We investigated survival and predation of a hunted population of eastern gray squirrels on Lown- des Wildlife Management Area in central Alabama from July 2015–April 2017. This area experiences annual flooding conditions from November through the following September. Our Kaplan-Meier survival estimate at 365 days for all squirrels was 0.25 (0.14–0.44, 95% CL) which is within the range for previously...

Population projection models are applied tools for considering the potential effects of land and population management alternatives. Incorporating spatially explicit processes and individual dynamics into these models can be important when assessing viability for relatively small populations in patchy habitats. We developed a spatially explicit, individual-based population simulation model (IBM) for gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) incorporating demographic rates from published studies throughout the range of the species. We then demonstrated this approach's utility for evaluating...