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Swamp rabbits (Sylvilagus aquaticus) inhabit bottomland hardwood forests and rely on key microhabitat features found in this forested wetland system. Research comparing key features of swamp rabbit habitat across the species' geographic range is lacking. In this study, we compared 13 microhabitat characteristics at sites associated with 2 distinct behaviors (form and latrine) of swamp rabbits at the northern extent of their distribution (southwest Indiana, northwest Kentucky) with sites from the species' core distribution (Arkansas). There were significant differences in vegetation structure including canopy cover, basal area, stand density, and stem density between Indiana, Kentucky, and Arkansas sites for both form and latrine locations. At the northern periphery, where swamp rabbit populations are of conservation concern, we found that habitat is composed of fewer key components that are ecologically important to swamp rabbits such as canopy gaps, downed woody material, and cover. Wildlife managers interested in providing swamp rabbit habitat should recognize microhabitat components (i.e., canopy gaps, downed woody material) that are favorable for swamp rabbits and attempt to supply these elements through management actions such as uneven-aged silvicultural practices. © 2015 The Wildlife Society.

Research on the impact of clearcut logging and partial harvesting practices on northern flying squirrels (Glaucomys sabrinus) has shown inconsistent and contrary results, limiting the use of this species as a management indicator species. Much of this variability in study results is due to the labor intensive nature of studying flying squirrels, resulting in small sampling sizes (average ¼ 5.2 sites, n ¼ 14) and high variation (CV ¼ 0.59) across studies. We conducted a meta-analysis of relevant studies from North America to determine how forestry practices affect flying squirrel abundance. Mean effect size was � 1.18 (P < 0.001; n ¼ 14) for all studies, indicating a strong difference between control stands and those regenerating postclearcut or following partial harvesting. Our results support the association of northern flying squirrels with mature, uncut forest and their suitability as ecological indicators of these vegetation types. 2011 The Wildlife Society.

Densely vegetated environments have hindered collection of basic population parameters on forest-dwelling ungulates. Our objective was to develop a mark—recapture technique that used DNA from fecal pellets to overcome constraints associated with estimating abundance of ungulates in landscapes where direct observation is difficult. We tested our technique on Sitka black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis) in the temperate coastal rainforest of Southeast Alaska. During 2006–2008, we sampled fecal pellets of deer along trail transects in 3 intensively logged watersheds on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. We extracted DNA from the surface of fecal pellets and used microsatellite markers to identify individual deer. With genotypes of individual deer, we estimated abundance of deer with moderate precision (±20%) using mark—recapture models. Combining all study sites, we identified a 30% (SE = 5.1%) decline in abundance during our 3-year study, which we attributed to 3 consecutive severe winters. We determined that deer densities in managed land logged >30 years ago (7 deer/km2, SE = 1.3) supported fewer deer compared to both managed land logged

We examined hypotheses regarding compatibility of managing white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) populations for trophy males (i.e., ≥8 points) and maximum sustained yield (MSY) harvests. Harvest of white-tailed deer on Oak Ridge Reservation, Tennessee, USA, began in 1985 following 45 years of protection. We examined several harvest characteristics (e.g., age and sex composition, antler and body size of males) under the assumption that the population had attained an equilibrium during this period and hunter bias toward males was constant across years. During 1985, 273 deer were killed by vehicles on the reservation; by 1994, mortality from vehicles declined to 143 deer. During the study period, annual harvest declined from 923 to 470 deer. We suspect that although the population had attained an equilibrium, it was likely below ecological carrying capacity (K) because of substantial vehicle mortality. Because of the absence of predators and other sources of natural mortality, we assumed that deer-vehicle collisions prior to hunting was the primary factor maintaining the population below K. After the initiation of hunting in 1985, several demographic parameters indicated the population was intensively harvested: 98% of the harvest was composed of males

Most habitats available to black bear (Ur,~usamericanus) in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (M.4V) consist of seasonally flooded commercial forests where lack of suitable dens may limit population growth. \Ve studied interactions between forest management and flooding relative to female black bear denning. Denning behavior differed between commercial and noncommercial forests. Females used tree dens exch~sivelyon nonco~nmercialforests, whereas on commercial forests, most (83%) were ground dens. L7ariationsin ground den elevation resulted in differing inundation probabilities, altering survival prol.)abilities for neonates. On commercial forests, ground dens with similar inundation probabilities as tree dens allowed successful repro-duction to occur. Management practices that enhance suitable cover in areas of nlirlimal inundation probability may mitigate for lack of den trees in flood-prone landscapes. JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT 65(1):34-40 Key words: batture, black bear, denning, elevation, flooding, forest management, Misissippi Allu~ialValley, reproduction, topography, Ursus arnericanus.

I propose a goodness-of-fit test to evaluate compliance of the spatial distribution of activity with bivariate normality. Home-range data for 2 Columbian white-tailed deer fawns (Odocoileus virginianus leucurus) were subjected to this test. The distribution for 1 fawn departed significantly from the expected; the distribution of the other fawn did not. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 47(3):613-619 The study of home ranges and territories (Burt 1943) has become an increasingly prominent approach for elucidating intraand interspecific ecological phenomena among terrestrial vertebrates, notably rodents (Randolph 1977, O'Farrell 1978), insectivores (Hawes 1977), cervids (Robinette 1966, Martinka 1969, Miller 1970, Phillips et al. 1973, Inglis et al. 1979), canids (Ables 1968, Fuller 1978, Andelt and Gipson 1979, Fuller and Keith 1980), felids (Hornocker 1969, Bailey 1975), ursids (Pearson 1975, Landers et al. 1979), mustelids (Mitchell 1961, Shirer and Fitch 1970, Storm 1972), procyonids (Shirer and Fitch 1970, Urban 1970), didelphids (Verts 1963, Shirer and Fitch 1970), leporids (Rongstad and Tester 1971, Trent and Rongstad 1974), fringillids (Wasserman 1980), parulids (Zach and Falls 1978), and iguanids (Waldschmidt 1979). Generally, 2 methods of evaluating home areas (home range or territory size) have been used: nonstatistical (polygon) techniques and statistical models that calculate home areas with the assumption that the locational data follow some probabilistic distribution (Stickel 1954). The elliptical home-range models proposed by Jennrich and Turner (1969) and Koeppl et al. (1975) have gained general acceptance (Hawes 1977, Randolph 1977, O'Farrell 1978, Zach and Falls 1978, Gavin 1979, Inglis et al. 1979, Waldschmidt 1979, Danner and Smith 1980, Wasserman 1980). These models use similar algorithms that are dependent upon the assumption that the locational data follow a bivariate normal distribution. The G, and G2 statistics (Sokal and Rohlf 1969:113) were used to evaluate conformance of locational data to the bivariate normal distribution (Zach and Falls 1978, Waldschmidt 1979). However, skewness (GI) and kurtosis (G2) represent properties of the marginal (univariate) distributions and the accordance of marginal distributions to univariate normality does not generally imply joint conformance to the bivariate normal distribution (Neter and Wasserman 1974:395). This paper presents a technique for evaluating the compliance of locational data to a bivariate normal distribution. In addition to a description of the method and its application, 2 example sets of locational data obtained from telemetrymediated direct observations of marked Columbian white-tailed deer are evaluated. Moore and Stubblebine (1981) described the theoretical basis for a chisquare test of multivariate normality with applications in economics. Here I present a technique, derived from the Moore and IPresent address: Department of Biological Sciences, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA 70402. J. Wildl. Manage. 47(3):1983 613 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.111 on Sat, 17 Sep 2016 05:33:05 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 614 A TEST FOR HOME RANGE MODELS * Smith