Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

Antler measurements are used to set harvest restrictions for male white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and to evaluate response to management. Remotely-triggered trail cameras are popular research and management tools, but have not been used to estimate antler size or age. We developed methods to estimate antler measurements and age of male deer â?¥ 1 year old from photographs. We developed predictive equations for individual antler measurements using photographs of mounted deer heads, and evaluated five anatomical features for potential use as a known-sized scaling reference in field photos. Mean estimation error for individual antler characteristics of free-ranging deer ranged from 6.7% for tine length to 19.3% for length of non-typical points. Mean estimation error for gross Boone and Crockett antler score from a single photograph was â?¤ 5.9%, and was improved by using multiple angles.

Coyote (Canis latrans) depredation rates on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) fawns are variable across the southeastern United States, perhaps due to varying dispersion of coyotes as related to social behavior and habitat preferences. To evaluate fawn predation risk related to coyote distribution, we studied home range patterns and habitat use of 15 female coyotes during the 2012-2013 fawning periods. Seasonal home range sizes varied but followed two general patterns. Small home range coyotes (SHR; likely breeding females) had a mean home range area of 7.4 km² (CL = 5.4-9.5 km²), whereas large home range coyotes (LHR; transients) had a mean home range area of 47.1 km² (CL = 27.5-66.8 km²). We measured consistency of space use as a gauge for predation risk by examining revisitation rates of core areas and quantified movements by calculating residence time along paths.

In Georgia, there are three geographically separated black bear (Ursus americanus) populations (North, Middle, and South). The middle population is the smallest and most isolated. Recent land purchases were made in part to conserve habitat for this population of bears. Our objectives were to determine if: 1) bear use of WMAs changes when the area is open or closed to hunting and 2) bear visitation rates to bear bait stations differ if roads are open to vehicular traffic. Both male and female bears used WMAs more during closed periods (males = 56.8% and females = 76.4%) than during open periods (males = 31.0% and females = 66.5%). Visitation rates to bear bait stations differed between closed roads (53.8%) versus open roads (23.2%). It is important that agencies managing public lands for black bears consider temporal and/or spatial regulation of human access to such areas, or parts thereof.

Mottled ducks (Anas fulvigula) on the western Gulf Coast have exhibited a steep population decline since the mid 1990s. Low rates of breeding incidence and nest success have been implicated in this decline, but duckling survival and the habitat needs of broods have not been previously investigated in this region. We fitted mottled duck ducklings and adult females with radio transmitters and tracked broods to estimate duckling survival and brood habitat selection on the upper Texas Gulf Coast. Duckling survival to 30 days was high (range among models 0.354-0.567) compared to other dabbling duck species. Estimated fecundity was low, (range among models 0.398-0.634) however, indicating that overall reproductive output is low. Within coastal marsh, broods selected home ranges with more water cover and less upland and fresh marsh landcover than was available in the study area.

Managing and restoring longleaf pine forests throughout the Southeast is a conservation priority. Prescribed fire is an integral part of these activities, as it is the primary means of controlling hardwood encroachment and maintaining native groundcover. Nest site and preflight brood ground- roost site selection of eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) has not been well studied in longleaf pine systems. Therefore, we determined habitat characteristics associated with wild turkey nests and ground-roosts in 2 longleaf pine forests in southwestern Georgia. We radio-tagged 45 female turkeys and evaluated habitat characteristics associated with 84 nests and 51 ground-roosts during the 2011-2013 nesting seasons. Nests were located farther from mature pine and mature pine-hardwood stands and closer to shrub/scrub habitats than expected.

The need to understand habitat requirements for bats is becoming more urgent as new risks pose unprecedented challenges to these unique mammals. We undertook a brief, intensive survey to investigate bat habitat use in and around the Apalachicola National Forest during May 2012. Making use of experienced volunteer biologists representing many agencies and organizations, we surveyed 31 sites during three nights of mist netting, capturing 245 bats of eight species. We used logistic regression and cluster analysis to evaluate habitat use and diet.

Although eastern elk (Cervus elaphus canadensis) were extirpated from the eastern United States in the 19th century, they were successfully reintroduced in the North Carolina portion of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the early 2000s. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) is evaluating the prospect of reintroducing the species in other locations in the state to augment recreational opportunities. As a first step in the process, we created a state-wide elk habitat suitability map. We used medium-scale data sets and a two-component approach to iden- tify areas of high biological value for elk and exclude from consideration areas where elk-human conflicts were more likely. Habitats in the state were categorized as 66% unsuitable, 16.7% low, 17% medium, and <1% high suitability for elk.

Land managers and researchers strive to understand factors influencing white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations and develop methods to improve habitat. Evaluating forage quality across variable habitat types and soil regions may assist land managers interested in improving habitat quality. We placed 570 plant sampling exclosures across nine primary habitat types in Louisiana and collected plant samples representing consumable forage from each exclosure during summer 2012. Each sample was dried and those with ≥ 10g of dry matter were analyzed for crude protein, total digestible nutrients, and trace minerals to assess forage quality within each major habitat type across Louisiana. We also assessed potential relationships between crude protein, phosphorus, potassium, and calcium concentrations of preferred white-tailed deer forages in each habitat with 10 year averages of body mass and antler size for 4.5+ year-old male deer harvested in each habitat type.

Relatively low fecundity may be responsible for lower Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) populations in the southern Appalachians compared to those in more northern areas of the species ' range. Nutritional stress imposed by poor-quality habitat and greater nest predation have been cited as negative influences on reproduction in the region. We monitored 56 female grouse during the reproductive season in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, 1999 - 2004, to measure reproductive success and evaluate cover used for nesting. Nests (n = 44) were located to determine fate and habitat characteristics. Nesting rate (78%) was lower than most reports, and mean first nest clutch size of 9.7 eggs was less than that reported in the Great Lakes states but was within the range reported in the central and southern Appalachians. Mayfield estimated nest survival was 0.83 (± 0.084 SE) and the proportion of successful nests was 81%, which is among the greatest reported.

The most commonly used method to determine the timing of breeding for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) is to measure fetuses from deceased animals. However, this method is resource-intensive and can only provide data for limited geographic areas. Numerous studies have reported that deer-vehicle collisions (DVCs) increase during the breeding season due to increased deer movements associated with breeding activity. Based on these observations, we obtained records of DVCs in Georgia from 2005 - 2012 (n=45,811) to determine when peaks in DVCs occurred for each county in Georgia. We compared the timing of DVC peaks with (1) conception data from three counties in Georgia, (2) deer movement data from a sample of GPS-instrumented male and female deer in Harris County, Georgia, and (3) a popularized 'rut map' for the state that was based on Georgia Department of Natural Resources fetal data as well as hunter observations.

Managing white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations requires an understanding of fawn survival and cause-specific mortality. In the Southeast, coyotes (Canis latrans) and bobcats (Lynx rufus) can be major sources of fawn mortality and may limit some white-tailed deer populations. We captured and radio-collared 47 fawns at the Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center in southwestern Georgia during 2007, 2008, 2011, and 2012 to quantify cause-specific mortality and survival. Fawn survival to 20 weeks of age (i.e., opening day of firearms season) was 29.0%. Coyote predation accounted for 52.4% of all fawn mortalities and 68.7% of predation-caused mortalities, while bobcat predation accounted for only 9.5% of all mortalities and 12.5 % of all predation. During 2007 and 2008, we quantified and then compared the percentage of coyote and bobcat scats that contained deer remains during the fawning season.

The Western Gulf Coast population of the mottled duck (Anas fulvigula) is dependent on the Gulf coastal marsh to complete its entire life cycle. Band recovery data can be used to monitor mottled duck populations by estimating annual survival, indexing harvest rate, and assessing movements. Band returns from hunting seasons 1997 - 2013 were used to evaluate factors influencing annual survival, recovery rates, and movements of mottled ducks in Texas and Louisiana. For banding years of 1997 - 2013, 58,349 normal, wild mottled ducks were banded and released in Texas and Louisiana. Since 2002, 86% of mottled duck bandings have occurred on the Chenier Plain of Texas and Louisiana. Hunters shot, recovered, and reported 7,061 birds with bands during this period. Direct recovery rates were greater for juveniles than adults but changed little since the 1970s. Estimates of annual survival did not differ between Texas and Louisiana, but did among years and between sex and age classes.

The mottled duck (Anas fulvigula) is a non-migratory waterfowl species dependent upon coastal marsh systems, including those on the Texas Chenier Plain National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Complex, and considered a regional indicator species of marsh habitat quality. Research from the early 1970s, 1990s, and early - 2000s indicated that mottled ducks continued to exhibit elevated wing-bone lead (Pb) concentrations, decades after implementation of non-toxic shot regulations. However, wing-bone concentrations reflect lifetime accumulation of Pb, whereas blood Pb concentrations reflect more recent exposure. To identify current potentially relevant temporal windows of Pb exposure, we collected 260 blood samples from mottled ducks during summer (n = 124) and winter (n = 136) from 2010 - 2012 on the Texas Chenier Plain NWR Complex.

Because wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) are an important game species and turkey hunter numbers are increasing, the need for better information on how turkeys use their environment is critical. With the recent advent of GPS technology suitable for use on wild turkeys, we are now able to collect data on a scale not previously possible. We used backpack style GPS units to detail home range and core area sizes, daily movement distances, and roosting characteristics of male Eastern (M. g. silvestris) and Rio Grande (M. g. intermedia) wild turkeys in Louisiana and Texas. Mean home range size was larger in Louisiana (383 ha) than in Texas (270 ha), and mean distance between consecutive roost sites was farther in Louisiana (803 m) than in Texas (211 m). However, average daily distance traveled was shorter in Louisiana (3725 m) than in Texas (4608 m). The mean distance between consecutive roost sites was 803m in Louisiana and 211m in Texas.

Reclaimed surface mines present an opportunity to provide large tracts of habitat for northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus). Reclaimed surface mine sites are commonly planted to non-native species, including sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata) and tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus), which can inhibit growth of more desirable plant species and limit favorable structure for bobwhite. There have been no studies documenting how bobwhites use various vegetation types common to reclaimed surface mine land. Habitat use studies can provide information on selected vegetation types on these unique landscapes and help direct future management decisions. We radio-marked 841 bobwhite from October 2009 to September 2011 on Peabody Wildlife Management Area (PWMA), a 3,330-ha reclaimed surface mine in Kentucky, to investigate how bobwhite used associated vegetation types and responded to habitat management practices.

It is well acknowledged that habitat management, herd management, and herd monitoring are necessary to best manage for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). A fourth component that must be considered is hunter participation. Hunter knowledge, perceptions, and satisfaction influence the success of a deer management program, as hunters play a key role in meeting harvest objectives. We surveyed hunters involved in a Quality Deer Management (QDM) program at Ames Plantation in western Tennessee from 2005 - 2013 to determine how experience in a QDM program influenced hunter knowledge, perceptions, and satisfaction concerning deer management. We divided our survey data into two groups to measure program influence: new members (137), who had not hunted or participated in the QDM program at Ames, and experienced members (395), who had at least one year of hunting experience and exposure to annual educational presentations and outreach materials offered through the Ames program.

As a surrogate species for Strategic Habitat Conservation, the mottled duck (Anas fulgivula) is an indicator species to coastal marsh health and function. Currently, biologists have a relatively poor understanding of regional mottled duck movements. We outfitted adult female mottled ducks with solar satellite transmitters during summer 2009-2011. Movement patterns were measured among years and phenology, in relation to available habitat at the landscape level, and in association to potential disturbance. Movement distances were measured in ArcGIS and then evaluated using analysis of variance for independent variables of year, month, biological time period, and season. Average weekly distances traveled by mottled ducks were relatively short (<5,000 m) compared to other waterfowl. Movement occurrence and distance were linked to biological season with longest distances documented during the molt period.

Effective control of Nepalese browntop (Microstegium vimineum) is important to land managers in the eastern United States because invasions can suppress native vegetation, thus decreasing vegetation diversity and habitat quality for many wildlife species. We evaluated the effectiveness of herbicides with varying selectivity (glyphosate, imazapic, and clethodim) at full rates and half rates (based on labeled rates for annual grass control) on the control of japangrass and their effects on non-target vegetation. We conducted our experiment in three forested areas in east Tennessee. We measured species coverage using point transects before treatment, 60 days after treatment (60DAT), and one year after treatment (1YAT). Japangrass coverage 60DAT was similar for all six treatments (0%-8%), but differed from coverage in control plots (83%). The coverage of japangrass in all treatments was less than control plots 1YAT (10%-35% vs. 68%).

Mottled ducks (Anas fulvigula) are endemic to Gulf Coastal United States, Florida, and Mexico. Birds from Florida, Louisiana, and Texas were released in coastal South Carolina from 1975 - 1983, and subsequent banding data suggest a dispersing and increasing population in the state. Because autecology of mottled ducks is little known in South Carolina, we radio-marked 116 females in August 2010 - 2011 in the Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto Rivers Basin to assess habitat use throughout the annual cycle. We monitored habitat use by aircraft during fall-winter and via ground reconnaissance during spring-summer. Because of small sample size due to radio-transmitter failure and logistics, we pooled data across years to obtain 1,241 locations from 67 females. Selection ratios (w_i) showed that females selected managed tidal impoundments but avoided unmanaged wetlands during fall-winter and spring-summer.

Body condition, or an individual's ability to address metabolic needs, is an important measure of organism health. For waterfowl, body condition, usually some measure of fat, provides a useful proxy for assessing energy budgets during different life history periods and potentially is a measure of response to ecosystem changes. The mottled duck (Anas fulvigula) is relatively poorly studied in respect to these dynamics and presents a unique case because its non-migratory life-history strategy releases it from metabolic costs experienced by many related migratory waterfowl species. Additionally, as a species in decline and of conservation concern in many parts of its range, traditional methods of fat content estimation that involve destructive sampling are less viable.

Managers of public lands affording waterfowl hunting strive to provide quality hunting opportunities while supporting biological needs of birds during winter. Understanding responses by mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) to diurnal hunting activities would help shape hunt regimes that satisfy management goals. We examined use of a wildlife management area (WMA) in western Mississippi by 28 radio-marked female mallards when waterfowl hunting season was closed and during the season when none, half, or all of the WMA was hunted during two winters 2010-2012. The proportion of each day that mallards occupied the WMA was best explained by date (wi = 1.0) and declined 0.5%/day (± 0.05% [SE]). Mallard presence on the WMA was best explained by date plus an interaction of hour-of-day and extent the WMA was hunted (wi = 1.0).

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 used scat analysis to evaluate the food habits and potential impacts of coyotes (Canis latrans) on white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations in Georgia's Piedmont physiographic region. From March 2010 - February 2011, we analyzed 146 and 207 coyote scats on Cedar Creek (CC) and B. F. Grant (BFG) Wildlife Management Areas, respectively. Although separated by only 8 km, habitat composition and therefore prey availability was dissimilar between sites. We assumed small mammal density was greater on BFG than CC because early successional habitat was more common on BFG (28% of area vs 7% on CC). Similarly, estimated deer densities on BFG (29 deer/km²) were approximately twice that of CC (12 deer/km²). Commonly occurring food items in scats on both areas included persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia), deer, hispid cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus), cottontails (Sylvilagus spp.), and insects.

Triploid largemouth bass may have potential in sport fish management and in food fish production as a means to eliminate reproduction, which would, in turn, potentially increase somatic growth. To examine this potential, four cohorts of diploid and triploid largemouth bass were produced over a 10 &#45 yr period and tagged intramuscularly with coded wire tags. Bass were stocked into Lucchetti Reservoir, Puerto Rico, and recaptured during subsequent sampling events. Growth rates, condition (relative weight, Wr), and reproductive investment (gonadosomatic index, GSI) were compared for diploid and triploid fish. Mean daily growth rate (MDG) did not differ (P &#8805 0.050) between diploids and triploids overall (diploid MDG&#177SE=0.75 &#177 0.02 mm/d; triploid MDG&#177SE=0.74 &#177 0.03), or by age class through age 2.

In an effort to evaluate the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)'s long-term fisheries monitoring program for inland water bodies, we conducted a power analysis utilizing fish data from electrofishing, mini-fyke net, and gill net samples. We resampled data and simulated the effects of different combinations of gear and sample size for collecting presence - absence information. Our objective was to determine whether the use of either mini-fyke nets or gill nets could be eliminated or reduced in the monitoring program. Thirty fyke net/gill net gear combinations were evaluated to determine how many samples were needed to collect at least 80% of the known species when combined with FWC's standard 25 fall electrofishing samples. The best option (i.e., the gear combination that would require the least amount of sampling effort to achieve our target detection)included an additional 16 mini-fyke net sets and three field days for a crew of two.