William M. Giuliano

Roller chopping and prescribed burning are treatments frequently applied to many southeastern rangeland systems, including Florida's pine flatwoods. These treatments can improve rangeland condition by reducing the cover of shrubs and promoting the growth of herbaceous species. How- ever, they have the potential to both positively and negatively affect insects, which provide important ecosystem services as pollinators and are a food source for numerous rangeland-associated avian species, some of which are of conservation concern. We compared total insect familial richness and relative...

In recent years, Florida's pine flatwoods, which provide habitat for numerous Lepidopteran species (butterflies and moths), have exhibited considerable declines in quantity and quality. These declines are primarily attributed to changes in historic fire regimes which have resulted in excessive shrub growth and loss of herbaceous vegetation. Prescribed burning and roller chopping are being promoted as a means to improve these areas of degraded pine flatwoods. However, impacts of these practices on pine flatwoods-associated Lepidopterans, many of which are important herbivores and...

Private landowners and conservation are essential to wildlife management. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission recognized the importance of these landowners and sought to improve their private lands programs through direct landowner input. We collected data on private lands wildlife management, participation in private lands management programs, and landowner demographics through a mail survey. Our results indicated 58% of landowners actively manage for wildlife and 68% believe their regular land management practices benefit wildlife. Demographics and land use varied...

As throughout most of their range, northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus; hereafter bobwhite or quail) populations have been declining throughout much of Florida, most likely the result of habitat loss and degradation. Restoration and management of bobwhites in Florida may be hindered by a lack of knowledge of the subspecies that occupies most of the state and its distinctive habitat. Further, little is known about the efficacy of translocating quail to restored habitat; a possible population restoration tool. Our objective was to examine nest success and site selection by resident...