S. R. Priest

Many pine (Pinus spp.) and pine-hardwood forests in the Southeast have been, and are being, converted to short-rotation (35 years) even-aged pine plantations. Effects of forest type conversion on wild turkey reproductive parameters have not been documented. Therefore, we compared reproductive performance of eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) in central Mississippi between a forest system dominated by short rotation loblolly {P. taeda) pine plantations (Kemper County) and Tallahala Wildlife Management Area (TWMA), a more "natural" forest system managed by the U.S. Forest...

We monitored reproductive effort and success of a wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) population on a public wildlife management area in Mississippi for 9 years using telemetry and other indices. Adult hens (N = 143) had a nesting rate of 72.7% (range 54-100) and was greater (P = 0.0001) than the nesting rate (26.7%) of juvenile hens (N = 15). Annual nest success of 104 nests of adult hens averaged 30.8% (range 0-62) and poult survival to >50 days was 22.7% for 27 broods (N = 203 poults). Clutch size averaged 9.1 (SE = 0.54) and 6.7 (SE = 1.1), and hatchability was 93% and 100%, for first...