The Allegheny woodrat is associated with rocky habitats in forested landscapes throughout the Appalachian Mountains from northern Alabama to New Jersey. Over the past 3 decades, populations in the northern portions of the range have experienced severe declines or extirpation. Population declines are thought to be the result of complex interactions between habitat loss and fragmentation, reductions in hard mast, parasite-related mortality, and increased predation. The goal of this research is to determine occupancy status of woodrat colony sites in Virginia and examine factors that influence occupancy at multiple scales.

Co-investigator: Dr. Mike Mengak
Graduate Research Assistant: Theron Menken

Forest composition and structure are directly impacted by forest management decisions. Because most southeastern bat species depend on forests during at least part of their lives, it is important to understand the relationship between bats and forest management. Although the body of knowledge regarding bat communities in managed forests has grown in recent years, little is known about how bat communities relate to landscape structure. Our objective is to investigate the relationship between bat foraging habitat and landscape-level features of managed forests.

Co-investigators: Dr. Bently Wigley, Dr. Darren Miller
Graduate Research Assistant: Michael Bender

Integrating habitat requirements for multiple species into management decisions represents a more efficient management approach compared to traditional single-species approaches. One approach to multi-species management is to develop integrated spatially-explicit habitat models that simultaneously optimize habitat conditions for all species included. The resulting integrated model allows land managers to assess the impacts of proposed management actions for each species prior to implementation of the management action. Our objective is to use an integrated approach to model optimization of habitat conditions for four species at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Co-investigators: Dr. Bob Warren, Dr. Mike Conner
Graduate Research Assistant: Jay Scott

In response to a variety of factors, management of loblolly pine in the southeastern United States has increased in intensity, incorporating increased use of herbicides, fertilizers, and genetically improved planting stock. Quantifying the response of vegetation and wildlife to herbicide mixtures and evaluating new approaches to minimize vegetative and wildlife impacts, while allowing continued improvement in pine plantation productivity, have been identified as research priorities by the forest product industry. The objective of this research is to quantify the effects of varying levels of management intensity on vegetative, small mammal, and breeding bird communities.

Co-investigator: Dr. Karl Miller
Graduate Research Assistants: Vanessa Lane, Graham Marsh

Management of nesting beaches is an important component of conserving loggerhead sea turtle populations. Nest management typically includes relocation of nests threatened by tidal inundation and screening nests to prevent depredation. However, lower hatching success and altered sex ratios are potential negative effects of nest relocation. Our research is examining the interactive effects of nest relocation and nest screening on loggerhead hatching and emergence success on Sapelo Island, Georgia.

Graduate Research Assistant: Mandi McElroy

Although considered a cave-dwelling species in parts of its range, Rafinesque's big-eared bat is typically associated forested wetlands in the southeastern Coastal Plain. The species is considered rare in most states, but its distribution and basic habitat associations are poorly understood. Reliable distributional and habitat data are needed to develop a comprehensive conservation and management strategy. Our objective is to quantify habitat features associated with Rafinesque’s big-eared bat roosts at multiple study sites throughout the Coastal Plain of Georgia and develop predictive models to identify the potential distribution of the species in the state.

Graduate Research Assistant: Matt Clement