Soricid response to coarse woody debris manipulations in Coastal Plain loblolly pine forests |
| |
Authors: | Kurtis R Moseley Audrey K Owens Steven B Castleberry W Mark Ford John C Kilgo Timothy S McCay |
| |
Institution: | 1. Division of Forestry and Natural Resources, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA;2. Arizona Game and Fish Department, 5000 W. Carefree Highway, Phoenix, AZ 85086, USA;3. D.B. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA;4. USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station, Box 404, Parsons, WV 26287, USA;5. USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station, P.O. Box 700, New Ellenton, SC 29809, USA;6. Department of Biology, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY 13346, USA |
| |
Abstract: | We assessed shrew (soricids) response to coarse woody debris (CWD) manipulations in managed upland loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) stands in the upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina over multiple years and seasons. Using a completely randomized block design, we assigned one of the following treatments to 12, 9.3-ha plots: removal (n = 3; all CWD ≥ 10 cm in diameter and ≥60 cm long removed), downed (n = 3; 5-fold increase in volume of down CWD), snag (n = 3; 12-fold increase in standing dead CWD), and control (n = 3; unmanipulated). Therein, we sampled shrews during winter, spring, and summer seasons, 2003–2005, using drift-fence pitfall arrays. During 1680 drift-fence plot nights we captured 253 Blarina carolinensis, 154 Sorex longirostris, and 51 Cryptotis parva. Blarina carolinensis capture rate was greater in control than in snag treatments. Sorex longirostris capture rate was lower in removal than downed and control plots in 2005 whereas C. parva capture rate did not differ among treatments. Overall, the CWD input treatments failed to elicit the positive soricid response we had expected. Lack of a positive response by soricid populations to our downed treatments may be attributable to the early CWD decay stage within these plots or an indication that within fire-adapted pine-dominated systems of the Southeast, reliance on CWD is less than in other forest types. |
| |
Keywords: | Blarina Coarse woody debris Cryptotis Pine management Short-rotation forestry Shrews Sorex Soricids |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录! |
|