Walker B. Wilson

Survival of female wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) influences turkey productivity. Although patterns of survival and productivity have been extensively researched in most forested landscapes, little information is available for female turkeys in bottomland hardwood systems, although importance of these systems is widely recognized. Therefore, we captured and radiomarked 39 female wild turkeys in a bottomland hardwood forest in south-central Louisiana during 2001-2004. Mean annual survival was 0.67. Survival was greatest during preincubation (1.00) potentially because of increased...

Significant losses to bottomland hardwood forests have occurred throughout the southeastern United States, and considerable efforts are ongoing to restore bottomlands. Understanding ecology of wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) in these systems will become increasingly important as distribution and availability of these forests continues to change through time. Although considerable research has examined space and habitat use of wild turkeys in upland forests, information is lacking for bottomland hardwood systems. We captured and radiomarked 32 female wild turkeys in a bottomland hardwood...