Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

Fisheries managers have long operated under the assumptions that time spent fishing (angler-days) or pounds or numbers of fish caught (maximum sustained yield) were accurate measures of fisheries output. However, many fisheries managers today advocate development of a multidimensional output measure which would incorporate social, aesthetic, and psychological factors. The present srndy was undertaken to delineate and determine the relative importance of 10 items affecting the quality of angling as perceived by Virginia fee-fishermen. A self-administered questionnaire employing a modified Likert scale was used to evaluate the 10 quality related items. A factor analysis was run which resulted in four factors relating to the quality of fee-fishing. The factors were (1) attractiveness ofthe fishing site, (2) amount of fishing, (3) satisfaction, and (4) improvements needed.

Spawning of striped bass in the Tar River was studied in 1975 and results were compared with a similar study done in 1965. Egg samples indicated a significant increase in spawning activity probably due in part to an increased population established by stocking. More favorable temperatures in 1975 also resulted in an extended period of peak spawning. The location of major spawning grounds based on egg samples was found to cover a 25 mile span of river between River Mile 60 and 85.

Recoveries of 189 redbreast sunfish (Lepornis auritus) tagged in Little River, North Carolina, indicated that this species is moderately mobile. Upstream movements predominated among fish recaptured within 60 days after their release in April and May. The extent ofmovement ofmales and females was about equaL On the basis ofmeasurements at release and recapture, average annual increase in size was 2.4 cm in total length and 48.0g in weight. The estimated annual harvest by sport fishermen was 14.7%.

Largemouth bass collected from selected Florida locations and stocked in hatchery ponds were studied for growth and catchability differences. Data indicates that some populations grow faster than others and that females grow faster than males. Experimental fishing data indicates that some populations show trends towards greater catchability, but no one population was shown significantly more catchable.

Concurrent with other life history investigations of black crappie, Pomoxis nigromaculatus (LeSeuer), in Lake Okeechobee, monthly examinations of stomach contents were made. Three food items--amphipods, oppossum shrimp, and fish--comprised the bulk of the diet. A change in diet occurred in early winter when the occurrence and numberoftendipeds dropped to a very low level, and again in late srping to early summerwhen tendipeds began to comprise a substantial portion ofthe diet. Data collected indicate tendipeds were primarily ingested as the pupae move toward the water surface and leave their cases rather than being picked from the bottom mud. Small black crappie (from 60 to about 240 millimeters) primarily utilized cntstaceans and insects as food items. Increasingly larger fish more frequently utilized fish as food.

During the winters of 1972-73 and 1973-74 an evaluation was made ofthe effectiveness ofthe leg-hold and killing type (Conibear) trap for taking fur animals in coastal Louisiana. The leg-hold trap caught significantly more nutria and raccoons than the Conibear trap. However, the killing type trap appeared to be more effective for taking muskrats in flooded marshes. Approximately 92 percent of the animals caught in the Conibear were killed by the trap, only 15.8 percent died in the leg-hold. Thirty percent ofthe nutria taken in the leg-hold trap were undersize and released. Survival of undersize nutria, held briefly in captivity, appeared good.

Habitat differences 9 years after planting of slash pine are compared for three levels of site disturbance in a north Florida flatwoods. Observed wildlife abundance is discussed in light of structural (quality, occurrence and stratification) and nutritional habitat differences. Where grasses and forbs were most productive (low site preparation intensity), ground arthropods, small mammals, herhivores, birds, and insectivores were most abundant. Increased site preparation accelerated pine overstory and shrub midstory development with greater foliage arthropad abundance. Rapid vegetation successional changes may prevent animal and plant populations other than transients from effectively utilizing intensive site prepared slash pine plantations. Growth and development of slash pine overstories was favored by intensive site preparation at the expense of understory wildlife habitat.

Measurement of the quality ofwildlife habitat is a necessity in planning and analyzing water resource projects. A methodology that provides a measure of habitat quality must consider the following factors: 1) the quantity of land uses, 2) the degree of interspersion of land uses, and 3) the condition of land management. A computerized methodology that considers each of these factors is provided for estimating habitat quality and evaluating: the impact of proposed water resource development alternatives. A computerized methodology is desirable because it reduces the computational effort, the likelihood of computational error, and the time required to evaluate a large number of proposed alternatives. The computer output includes the information required to assess the degree of mitigation required.

Tissue samples from beaver and river otter taken by trappers mostly from southeastern Alabama during January through March 1973 and 1974 were subjected to pesticide residue analyses. Residues found were Mirex, p.p' DDT, p.p 'DDE, p.p 'DDD, Heptachlor epoxide, Endrin, Dieldrin, Toxaphene and PCB as Aroclar 1260. The occurrence of Mirex in 14 of 19 river otter taken in 1974 may have resulted from large area aerial application of Mirex for fire ant control. Composite samples of beaver from the Chattahoochee River contained 31 times more total residues than composite samples from other areas.

Honeysuckle planted in 1968 consistently yielded more than 2,000kg of leaves and twigs per ha after 1972. Fertilization with N substantially increased total vegetative yields and crude protein content of leaves. Utilization by deer was highest when acorns were scarce and when snow covered the ground. Despite high yields, there was evidence than an effective means of weed control would be necessary to prevent native woody species from eventually suppressing the honeysuckle. Mowing was not sufficient control, and spraying with 2,4,5-T killed honeysuckle as well as native woody species.

Range parameters of 16 wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) restocked in a Georgia Piedmont habitat were evaluated folloWing early spring releases. Turkeys were tracked by radio telemetry. On 152 occasions, they were radio-located every two hours all day; other radio and visual locations were determined randomly for a total of 1,850. Turkeys were released in what was considered to be the best habitat; their activities remained oriented around that area throughout the study. Ranges increased throughout the study and turkeys had adjusted to their environment within five weeks after release. Maximum distances traveled from the release point averaged 2.82km (1. 76 mi) and varied from 1.17km to 4.62km (0.73 to 2.89 mil with gobblers generally moving farther than hens. Ranges varied from 90.4 ha to 952.4 ha (226 to 2381 acres) with an average of 376 ha (940 acres). There was a continuous shifting of social groupings during the study.

Interactive feeding among a group of vertebrates in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was simulated. Consumer density, biomass production, consumer consumption rates, and seasonal food habits of adults of each species were calculated using field or literature values. The consumers included the European wild hog, black bear, raccoon, wild turkey, white-tailed deer, three sciurid species, and several rodents. The sciurids and rodents were considered as two respective canonical groups making a total ofseven consumer groups. Values of requisite parameters were allowed to vary randomly. Simulations were run for five years at one-half month intervals with a four-year comparison period. The European wild hog did not compete with the other consumers even when their population was doubled. The sciurids were the major competitors.

Methods for the collection, preparation and extraction of tissues of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus drginianus) are given, Electrophoretic technique, buffers, gel preparation and banding patterns for 27 proteins encoded by 28 stnlctura) loci are described. In a survey of 400 deer from the Savannah River Plant, nine loci were shown to be polymorphic. The potential use ofpopulation genetics information for wildlife management programs is discussed.

Burning reduced the dense growth between 3-year-old Japanese honeysuckle plants and prevented the resprouting of runners. Mowing removed the dense accumulation of vines, but the severed runners resprouted to create a uniformly dense carpet. Crude protein of foliage was highest on the burned plots, but neither calcium nor phosphorus were significantly affected by the treatments.

Wild captured adult alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) over a 4 1/2 year period exhibited a nesting rate of 50 percent. Clutch size averaged 39.5 eggs per nest. Fertility rates averaged 75.4 percent. Successful stocking rates ofone male to four females were achieved in a one-half acre enclosure. Pen construction methods and maintenance techniques were implemented to simulate natural marsh conditions, thereby encouraging breeding and contributing to the health of the alligators. Diseases posed no problem during the investigation although fighting and escapes were major concerns during the early phases of the study.

Aerial and gronnd censuses of bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) wintering in Oklahoma indicate a minimum population in midwinter of almost 600 eagles. The northern bald eagle (H. l. alascanus) is the primary subspecies found in Oklahoma. Eagles generally begin arriving in October, their populations peak in January, and most have departed by mid March. The largest concentrations ofeagIes are located along the SaIt Fork River near Salt Plains National Wildlife Rehlge (NWR), at Grand Lake, in Osage and Texas Counties, at the Wichita Mountains NWR and Sequoyah NWR, and at Keystone, Tenkiller, Eufaula, and Fort Gibson Reservoirs. Fourteen communal roosts were found. Cottonwoods (Populus deltoides) are the main roost tree species. Sixty-four percent ofthese roosts are on private property. Fourteen percent of the roosts are threatened by human disturbance and their future is considered precarious.

During a three year study 282 successful nesting pairs of southern bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus leucocephalus) produced 404 young at a rate 0£1.43 young per successful nest, and 0.82 per active territory. This is similar to productivity report by Spruntet al (1973) for a 12 year study of eagles nesting in the Everglades. Production of young per active territory in the South Florida Region (report by Spruntet all973) was 0.73, for this survey it was 0.65. Statewide eagles used pine (Pinus sp) as nesting sites (60.5 percent), over cypress (Taxodium sp) (14.3 percent), and red, white, and black mangrove (Rhizophora mangle, Laguncularia racemosa, and Avicennia genninans) (22.9 percent). During the three seasons studied, eagles nesting in the Central Florida Region produced a total of 221 young (54.7 percent of statewide production) at a rate of1.47 young per successful nest.

Biologists consider four southeastern United States bat taxa to be endangered (in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of their range). They are Myotis sodalis (Indiana bat), Myons grisescens (gray bat), Plecotus townsendii virginianus (Virginia big-eared bat), Plecotus townsendii ingens (Ozark big-eared bat). Causes of population declines include loss of habitat, direct killing, and disturbances to hibernating and maternity colonies.

The Delmarva fox squirrel (Sciurus niger cinereus) and the gray squirrel (Sciurns carolinemis) occupied nest boxes placed in four separate woodlots on Maryland's Eastern Shore. During each season, a large proportion (42%-58%) of the boxes were not occupied, indicating that a lack of nesting sites is not limiting the abundance of Delmarva fox squirrels. The status of the Delmarva fox squirrel at all four sites is precarious. Management of the Delmarva fox squirrel must be based on the best available knowledge. Data pertaining to this squirrel are limited because of its scarcity and, until recently, a lack of interest in the animal by management agencies. Information concerning litters, nest box utilization, and habitat relationships is the basis for a discussion of management strategies. These include reduction of under bush by light burning or cattle grazing and selective removal of gray squirrels to reduce interspecific competition

Wintering and breeding-bird populations were determined for even-aged loblolly pine stands 6 years, 20 years, and 46 years old in Livingston Parish, Louisiana. Comparative data were collected in a natural stand. These stands supported bird populations lower in density and species diversity than the natural forest. As vegetative strata increased in a stand, the number and kinds ofbirds present, also increased.

Seven caged black bear (Ursus americanus) were fed granular lithium chloride mixed in honey. At the maximum dosage (SOg dissolved in .91 of honey) and minimum dosage (20gl.91) ingestation resulted in sickness. A single treatment resulted in six of the treated bears being conditioned to refuse to eat pure honey for periods varying from 15 to 220 days. One bear continued to relish pure honey and exhibited no aversion

Approximately 10,500 locations of 234 individually marked white-tailed deer (Odocoileus cirginianus) in an 826-ha enclosure at Radford Anny Ammunition Plant in Dublin, Virginia, were analyzed to determine when and why deer wander and disperse from their home range. For the first 10 months after birth, over 95 percent ofall locations were within O.8km ofeach deer's center ofactivity, but of those which lived past 15 months ofage, 30 percent ofthe does and 53 percent ofthe bucks are known to have wandered beyond 1.6km, considered the limit of normal activity, sometime during their lives. The tendency for long movements by does was greatest during spring and summer, especially following temporary breakup of family groups at 1 year of age, and when does were preparing to bear their first fawn at 2 years of age. Bucks moved much more frequently than does, and 19 bucks made 2.5 changes in range, mostly between the ages of 12 and 21 months.

A systematic search of 5,200 acres on Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge was conducted to assess unreported losses of deer following two 3-day special deer hunts in 1974. Of 1,141 deer harvested from the Refuge, 334 (29 percent) were removed from the study areas. The search revealed that 67 deer (20.0 percent loss) were unretrieved by hunters on these areas, compared to an estimate of 32 percent loss as determined from responses by successful hunters to a post-hunt questionnaire. Inconsistencies between the sex-age composition of harvested deer and those left in the field suggested that some intentional abandonment may have occurred.

The impact of refuges on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus drginianus) movements and population dynamics, although often discussed, has never been clearly documented in the Southeast. This study used radio telemetry, modified Lincoln Index censusing, sex ratio counts, kill data and observations of40 marked deer from March 1973 through November 1974 to analyze movements between Berry College Refuge and contiguous hunted areas in northwestern Georgia. Three major patterns of movement seemed apparent; (1) relatively sedentary movement patterns of resident refuge deer, (2) dispersal of 1.5 and 2.5-year-old bucks from the refuge coincident with the onset ofrut, and (3) migration of a large contingent of deer (mainly does) onto the refuge concident with the opening of hunting season. Bucks dispersing from the refuge sustained considerable mortality from hunting. The concurrent influx of deer onto the refuge, however, nearly doubled the population (P < 0.05).

Past emphasis on wildlife research with immediate applicability has resulted in good management progress with minimum effort. However, this emphasis may now be impeding management progress. Most of the "easy" answers may be known already. Wildlife scientists and managers should recognize the need for basic physiological and nutritional research to improve future management procedures. Examples are given ofrecent knowledge concerning wild species that have been obtained through such basic research, the possible implications ofthis knowledge, and the need for more "in depth" research on the biology and ecology ofthe species with which we work.