Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

Atlantic tarpon Megalops atlanticus is an important recreational fisheries resource in the 6 brackish water lagoons located in Puerto Rico's Humacao Natural Reserve. The lagoons, which formed on the reserve after Hurricane David and Tropical Storm Frederick flooded the area in August 1979, are arranged in series and connect to the sea during periods of substantial precipitation. Subsequently, they reflect environmental gradients from essentially marine to low-salinity brackish water conditions. From March 2000 to April 2001, experimental mesh gill nets (N = 228) were utilized to conduct stock assessments of tarpon in the lagoons. Relative abundances of tarpon were greater as isolation (i.e., distance) from the system's confluence with the sea increased. Salinity decreased and water clarity increased as the distance from the Caribbean Sea increased. Tarpon relative abundances in the lagoons tended to be related more to water clarity than to salinity.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Fisheries Service, is charged with stewardship of coastal and inland fishery resources and management of fishermen who fish in our waters. Maryland's involvement in fishery management is not restricted only to state waters. We also have been actively involved in influencing national and international fisheries policy for Atlantic white marlin (Tetrapturus albidus), particularly in 2002. The effort is two-fold; it utilizes traditional methods of fishery management through an advisory process and, in later years, has included non-traditional processes including partnerships with fishing organizations and environmental advocacy groups. In the future, state fishery managers could consider additional non-traditional strategies such as requesting protection for white marlin under the Convention for the International Trade of Endangered Species and through information exchange programs with small developing coastal nations.

Paramoeba perniciosa is a parasite that has been found in blue crabs Callinectes sapidus from coastal embayments from Florida to Connecticut and has been associated with mortalities in crab shedding facilities in coastal bays of Maryland and Virginia. Hemolymph samples from more than 7300 crabs over a 9-year period from the Gulf (N = 228) and Atlantic (N = 7167) coasts of the United States revealed 0.5% of crabs assayed to be infected by P. perniciosa. Infections were limited to crabs collected from Virginia to New Jersey; Rehoboth Bay, Delaware, had a considerably higher prevalence than other sites sampled. Infections were not present or detected in Gulf coast crabs. Areas reported with P. perniciosa in blue crabs overlap areas reported with paramoeba-like infections in the American lobster Homarus americanus and rock crabs Cancer irroratus. One lesser blue crab Callinectes similis sampled from a Maryland coastal bay was infected by a Paramoeba sp. morphologically similar to P.

Georgia, like much of the Southeast, is faced with increasing pressures on its natural resources including forests. The predominant forces being imposed on Georgia's forests are development due to human population expansion and increasing demand for forest products. In 1996, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Resources Division, began working with 14 corporate forest owners operating in Georgia to develop a partnership program that would recognize companies for their efforts in natural resources conservation. The Forestry for Wildlife Partnership Program has been functional for 3 years and has facilitated improvements in communication, operations, training, and resource conservation by participating companies. After 5 years of implementation, the partnership program provides a model from which many lessons can be learned relative to the role of private corporations, especially the forest industry, in conserving natural resources.

Small game populations, including northern bobwhite, have shown precipitous declines in North Carolina. To address these declines and trends in habitat loss, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission implemented the Cooperative Upland habitat Restoration and Enhancement (CURE) program in August 2000. The CURE program has 6 objectives related directly to habitat enhancement. This is a cooperative, multi-phase project, the success of which depends upon collaboration with numerous private landowners and other agencies and organizations. The CURE program has been designed to minimize expense to landowners while maximizing habitat quality and quantity in specific geographical areas. As we enter the 21st Century, the CURE program is the Commission's attempt to address declines in small game.

Conflicts between humans and bears have escalated in central Florida over the past 5 years. The scope and magnitude of these conflicts extend beyond the responsibilities and capabilities of any 1 agency; therefore, handling these problems requires cooperation among multiple agencies and organizations. We used partnerships to accomplish the following large-scale efforts: 1) a study of movements, habitat use, and population dynamics of bears relative to a highway; 2) creation and implementation of an annual bear festival; 3) creation and distribution of, and training for, an educator's curriculum guide; 4) establishment of a specialty license tag; 5) formation and execution of a broad educational campaign, and 6) support of educational efforts of individual organizations in the partnerships. These examples highlight benefits of collaborative efforts by agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and local communities to resolve large-scale problems between people and bears.

In recent years, conflicting viewpoints on natural resource management in Mississippi have existed between the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks (MDWFP) and forest industry. The continuing success of commercial forestry as a leading economic activity in Mississippi depends, in part, on a successful communication and education program by the forestry community (e.g., large private corporations, smaller firms, public agencies and organizations, non-governmental organizations, and universities) targeted to constituency groups such as MDWFP and the general public. Our study developed a foundation for this task. Our objective was to determine the values, attitudes, and perceptions of MDWFP's administration, technical staff, and conservation officers regarding Mississippi's forest industry.

In August 2000, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission approved and funded the Cooperative Upland habitat Restoration and Enhancement (CURE) Program, an initiative to create and maintain early-successional upland habitat for the enhancement of northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) populations and associated early-successional species in North Carolina. As a part of the initial implementation of the CURE Program, our objectives were to identify specific geographic areas in North Carolina (focal areas) where the potential to restore and enhance bobwhite habitat and increase bobwhite populations on private lands was greatest. We used a Geographic Information System and remotely-sensed satellite imagery to examine current land use and the spatial arrangement of bobwhite habitat to develop a model of landscape suitability for bobwhite habitat restoration and enhancement in North Carolina.

Prescribed burning and/or herbicide applications are performed in managed pine (Pinus spp.) forests to control non-pine vegetation. Little research has examined small mammal or herpetile community response to these treatments in mid-rotation pine stands. Therefore, our objective was to determine prescribed burning and herbicide treatments effects on small mammal and herpetile communities within mid-rotation pine plantations in Mississippi. We established 4 treatments (herbicide only, herbicide/burn, burn only, control) with 6 replicates within thinned, mid-rotation (18-22 years old) loblolly pine (P. taeda) stands. We applied 697-872 ml/ha of Arsenal herbicide during September 1999 and conducted prescribed burning during January 2000. We captured small mammals and herpetiles to examine abundance, richness, and diversity as related to habitat conditions before and 2 years after treatment. We captured 15 species of small mammals and 21 species of herpetiles.

Prescribed burning is an often used and economical management tool to manage for northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and eastern cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus). Although prescribed fire creates and maintains early successional plant communities that benefit cottontails, short-term effects (direct and indirect) of prescribed burning on cottontails are unclear. To document cottontail response to fire, we examined pre- and post-burn home range (HR) and core area (CA) size, post-burn movement rates, and post-burn survival and cause-specific mortality rates for 10 cottontails (BURN) that inhabited sites burned with prescribed fire on Black Prairie Wildlife Management Area in Mississippi during 1998 and 10 cottontails (UNBURN) selected randomly that inhabited unburned sties. We observed no direct mortality from prescribed burns. Cottontails moved a mean distance of 84.9 m (SE=18.0) immediately after the burn, with 9 of 10 marked cottontails emigrating from burned fields.

Coarse woody debris (CWD) is an important habitat component of many faunal species, and little research has been conducted on the relationship between CWD and small mammals in central Appalachian hardwood forests. Response of small mammal populations to manipulation of CWD volume was tested in central Appalachian forests in north central West Virginia from 2000-2001. Abundance and diversity of small mammals captured (N=1,564) on 12 experimental 60 3 60 m live-trapping grids were compared. Grids were randomly distributed between addition sites (volume of CWD increased by 50%), removal sites (volume of CWD reduced by 50%), and control sites. We classified grids as edge (<100 m from a forest edge) or interior (?100 m from a forest edge). We captured 15 species in 13,009 trap nights. The most abundant species captured were white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) and deer mice (P.

Detailed knowledge of habitat use patterns of forest bats in the southeastern United States is needed to predict how habitat changes from forest management and other land use practices affect bat communities. We used Anabat detectors to survey bat activity on the Oconee National Forest, Georgia, among 3 loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) stand ages (clearcut, sapling, and mature) and 3 riparian habitat types (creeks, rivers, and open wetlands). We used echolocation calls to assess differences in relative activity and species richness among stand ages and riparian habitat types. We recorded calls of big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus), eastern red bats (Lasiurus borealis), eastern pipistrelles (Pipistrellus subflavus), and evening bats (Nycticeius humeralis). Regardless of stand age, species richness was greater in riparian areas than upland areas.

Research conducted by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources indicated that populations of mink throughout South Carolina were declining or had become rare in areas of previous abundance. In September 1998, we initiated a 3-year study within the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge in Charleston County, South Carolina, to determine the feasibility of re-establishing a wild mink (Mustela vison) population in the northern coastal marshes of South Carolina. We captured 62 wild mink with dip nets, cast nets, and live traps from tidal marshes near Edisto and Daufuskie islands, South Carolina. Dip nets and live trapping of family groups were the most effective capture methods. Nineteen mink were implanted with radio-transmitters before release, and the remaining mink were released in the CRNWR without transmitters. We located 14 mink on 902 occasions over a 15-month period. We obtained sufficient data for home range analysis on 4 males and 9 females.

There has been considerable interest in the ecology of Cooper's hawks (Accipiter cooperii) in the Southeast since Stoddard's work in the 1930s on northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) identified Cooper's hawks as one of the key predators on bobwhites. Understanding Cooper's hawk-bobwhite relationships has become increasingly important as bobwhite populations have declined and Cooper's hawk populations have increased over the past 30 years. We studied Cooper's hawk diurnal, non-breeding season habitat selection at Ames Plantation in southwestern Tennessee from November 1999-March 2000 and November 2000-March 2001. We captured Cooper's hawks with bal chatri traps baited with house sparrows (Passer domesticus) and fitted them with radio transmitters. We located hawks with radio telemetry and referenced daily locations with global positioning systems. We estimated 95% minimum convex polygon (MCP) for each bird.

Carnivores elicit a variety of responses from society, and predator management has a correspondingly diverse history in the wildlife management profession. Attempts to manage or control predators often create controversy, and therefore is a constantly contentious issue with wildlife managers. In many regards, views regarding predator management have changed considerably during the past few decades, but recent trends suggest that predator management strategies are being considered and/or implemented in various management scenarios. Societal changes, large-scale changes in landscape conditions, and the realization that predation issues are complex mandate careful consideration be given to predator management scenarios prior to implementation. We examine key issues pertaining to the issue of predation management, and summarize relevant issues regarding predator management across the southeastern region of the United States.

Male white-tailed deer are subjected to a variety of factors that influence body and antler development when they are yearlings. Nutrition and genetics have received considerable attention as factors that influence this development; however, date of birth has yet to be adequately investigated and theoretically could dramatically influence development in later years. To determine how date of birth influences development of antler and body characteristics at 1.5 years of age, we collected data from yearling male white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) harvested on 23 Alabama Wildlife management Areas (WMAs) during the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 hunting seasons. We found that early born males had greater body mass, number of antler points, antler beam length, and antler beam circumference than their late born counterparts. Mean birth date of fork-antlered yearlings was earlier (26 Jun) than spike-antlered yearlings (23 July).

Reintroductions of Delmarva fox squirrels (Sciurus niger cinereus) to suitable habitat have been a recovery tool used for this endangered species. In Maryland, we attempted reintroductions at 11 sites beginning in 1978. The last reintroduction was completed in 1992. At each site, 8-42 individuals were released during spring or fall over a 1-3 year period. Attempts were made to release an equal number of males and females. Monitoring at reintroduction sites by live-trapping has documented recruitment and establishment of populations at 9 sites. Criteria used for determining population establishment follows that of the Delmarva Fox Squirrel Recovery Plan (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1993). Because 7 of these populations were established with <24 individuals, supplemental releases of Delmarva fox squirrels were conducted to bolster genetic diversity.

As fisher (Martes pennanti) populations recover throughout portions of their historic distribution in the southeastern United States, responsibilities and opportunities in their conservation research likely will become more prevalent. Chemical restraint often is a valuable tool in studying wildlife populations. We reviewed previous research on chemical restraint of fishers with the objective of providing a comparative assessment of field and clinical applications of specific chemical restraints or chemical restraint combinations. Chemical restraints that have been studied in fishers include ketamine, Telazol, and combinations of ketamine-xylazine, ketamine-medetomidine, and ketamine-acepromazine. Ketamine was safe and effective, but when used alone, its applications were limited to brief, non-invasive procedures because it generally provided shallow immobilization and rapid recovery.

Deterioration of seeds due to weathering may affect the quantity and quality of food available for granivorous wildlife through time. Deterioration rates of seeds during field weathering in terrestrial environments largely are unknown, and the relationship between seed mass loss and loss of specific nutrients during weathering has not been tested. We documented losses of overall mass and masses of 7 nutrients in selected seeds during field weathering and tested the relationships between overall mass loss and loss of individual nutrients and between overall mass loss and seed water and fiber contents. Most seeds lost mass during weathering; seeds of cultivated species lost mass more rapidly than those of wild species. Fat, nitrogen-free extract (NFE), protein, and hemicellulose declined in most seeds with weathering as well. Overall mass loss in seeds was positively correlated with loss of fat, NFE, protein, ash, and water but was not related to seed water or fiber content.

Despite numerous museum records and published range maps, gaps exist in current knowledge of the abundance and distribution of many amphibian species. Furthermore, because of the unique life histories among amphibians, several techniques conducted across several diurnal and seasonal time scales are needed to detect species presence. We conducted surveys at fixed points within forests on a military land base in east-central Mississippi to quantify amphibian richness using anuran call counts and time-constrained area searches, 1998-2000. Concomitantly, we completely enclosed 3 ephemeral pools with drift fence-pitfall arrays to monitor seasonal use by amphibians and gain further knowledge of local species richness. We detected 21 species of amphibians among 4 habitat types using anuran call counts and area searches at fixed points.

Black bear (Ursus americanus) populations have expanded in Maryland since the late 1970s. Previous attempts to estimate bear numbers have been hampered by access to private land and manpower shortages. The development of hair snaring techniques, coupled with genetic fingerprinting, provides a more efficient technique than traditional mark-recapture methods to estimate black bear numbers in Western Maryland. In May-June 2000, we established 108 grids throughout occupied bear range in Garrett and western Allegany counties in western Maryland. We established hair traps in each grid for 4 week-long sampling periods. Hair samples that were snagged on barbed wires were collected after each sampling period and kept for DNA analysis. We subjected 330 hair samples to DNA analysis and identified 92 individual bears. We identified 45 males and 43 females; the gender of an additional 4 bears could not be determined.

Deer antler growth is influenced by the environment, population density, genetics, and nutrition. As land use and densities change over time, antler characteristics are hypothesized to also change. We examined how geography, land use, and the number of deer harvested per unit area (i.e., harvest density) related to white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) antler characteristics of harvested yearling bucks in Missouri during 2 time periods (1951-1970 and 1997-2001). Latitude related positively to antler characteristics in the early time period. Amount of cropland harvested was positively associated with antler characteristics, while amount of pastureland, and amount of grazed woodland were negatively related during the recent time period. Deer from the Glaciated Plains physiographic region exhibited a significant decline in number of points (¯x = 6.3 to 5.4) and beam circumference (¯x = 72.5 to 68.6 mm) across time.

Avian points counts are commonly used to inventory bird species composition and abundance. When designing a study to inventory birds using point counts, point plot size and count duration are 2 variables that must be considered based on project goals. We conducted double-observer point counts on the Camp Dawson Collective Training Area, Preston County, West Virginia, during 2000 and 2001 to ascertain how detection probabilities and abundance estimates are affected by different plot sizes and durations. We conducted point counts from dawn to 1000 hours, and sub-tallied birds into different distance (0-<50 m, 50-100 m, and >100 m) and time (0-<3 minute, 3-5 minute, and >5-10 minute) intervals. We used program DOBSERV to generate species-specific detection rates and abundances for the different distance and time intervals. Detection probabilities were greatest for 50-m radius point counts and least for unlimited-radius counts (P < 0.05).

Chemical immobilization often is the most effective method for capturing white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Numerous chemical immobilization agents are available. We compared the efficacy and physiological effects of 2 white-tailed deer immobilizing agents: medetomidine-ketamine (M-K) antagonized with atipamezole, and xylazine-Telazol (X-T) antagonized with tolazoline. Mean induction time was longer and more variable for M-K. Mean reversal time and total down time was longer and more variable for X-T. Mean blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) in subjects treated with M-K was lower immediately following induction. We detected no differences in mean SpO2 at >5 minutes post induction or for mean rectal temperature or pulse rate at any time during the monitoring period between the 2 groups. Each agent appeared to offer advantages and disadvantages, depending on the specific circumstances of the capture event.

Although an extremely important biome, little has been studied concerning specific plant responses to wildfire within the pinyon (Pinus spp.)-juniper (Juniperus spp.) woodland. A wildfire in the semi-arid Chisos Mountains, Texas, during 1980 provided an opportunity to examine the phenological response of desert plant species to burning. Consequently, we examined the response of vegetation and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus carminis) to wildfire for 2 years in the Chisos Mountains, Big Bend National Park (BBNP), Texas. Permanently established, random plots (1 m2) were established shortly after the fire and all individual stems of plants were identified by species and monitored twice/month. Forbs responded immediately (within 2 weeks post-burn) following a spring drought. Mexican pinyon pine (Pinus embroides) and alligator juniper (Juniperus deppeana) began crown regrowth 2 months after the fire. Grasses responded rapidly in open, meadow areas.