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ABSTRACT Prescribed fire is widely used in southeastern pine ( Pinus spp.) forests to maintain desirable forest conditions and provide early successional vegetation. However, it is unclear how fires applied just prior to and during the reproductive cycle of ground nesting Galliformes influence resource selection. We examined the short-term influence of prescribed fire on habitat selection of female eastern wild turkeys ( Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) throughout their reproductive cycle (Feb−Aug) at Kisatchie National Forest in west-central Louisiana, USA during 2014 and 2015. Kisatchie was dominated (>60%) by pine stands managed with prescribed fire at a frequent (i.e., 1-3 yr) return interval. We captured 46 females and equipped them with backpack-style global positioning system (GPS) transmitters programmed to collect relocation data hourly from 0600 to 2000 each day. We used distance-based analysis to estimate selection or avoidance of vegetation communities relative to reproductive phenology of individual females. Hardwood and mixed-pine hardwood vegetation communities were selected for before and after reproductive efforts; hardwood stands were avoided during brooding. While laying their first clutch of the reproductive period, females selected mature pines burned 0-5 months prior. Females avoided mature pine stands 2 growing seasons post-burn prior to initiating their first nests. Females avoided mature pine stands 3 growing seasons post-burn when brooding. Turkeys did not select for pine stands that had experienced ≥3 growing seasons post-burn during any reproductive period, and may avoid these stands during pre-nesting and brooding. Frequent fire return intervals maintain vegetation communities that females select at some point during the reproductive season in pine-dominated landscapes. © 2017 The Wildlife Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prescribed fire is used in southeastern pine forests to maintain desirable forest conditions and provides herbaceous understory plant communities for wildlife. However, it is unclear how time-since-fire affects the short-term response of wild turkeys ( Meleagris gallopavo ) to prescribed fire. We examined use of recently burned pine stands by female eastern wild turkeys ( M. g. silvestris ) immediately following prescribed fire in a pine-dominated landscape managed with frequent fire. We developed several models to best predict the influence of time-since-fire and month of fire application on turkey use of burned areas. We also assessed the spatial behavior of turkeys when using recent burns to determine if distance to escape cover affected turkey use of recently burned areas. Female turkeys used burned areas immediately after fire and probability of use increased until 141 days post-fire and then declined until 250 days post-fire when data collection stopped. Response of turkeys to recent burns depended on the month of prescribed fire application; probability of use was greater for areas burned in February and during the growing season (April and May). Turkey use of space within burned areas declined as distance to surrounding unburned areas increased, suggesting that turkeys favor the edge of burned and unburned areas which could serve as escape cover. However, the effect of distance to the perimeter of burned stand decreased as time-since-fire increased. Our findings suggest that turkeys are less likely to use areas burned in early winter (e.g., December) than late winter (e.g., February), and are more likely to use space near edges of burned areas than the interior. We recommend managers in southeastern pine-dominated ecosystems apply dormant season fires in late winter and apply early spring growing season fires as needed to meet forest management objectives. Turkeys used burned areas immediately following prescribed fire, but traded-off exploitation of foraging opportunities by using space near escape cover. Applying prescribed fire on smaller patches in checkerboard fashion may enhance turkey use of the entirety of a burn unit, and future research should seek to delineate other variables influencing how turkeys use recently burned areas. We recommend applying prescribed fire to patches smaller than those burned on our study sites at frequent (2–3) year fire-return intervals to increase usable space for female turkeys throughout the reproductive period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spring harvest is a primary mortality factor for male eastern wild turkeys ( Meleagris gallopavo silvestris), but the relationship between spring harvest regimes and annual survival is not well understood. We banded 462 male wild turkeys from 1989 to 2007 in southeastern Louisiana to estimate annual survival and band recovery rates relative to spring harvest. We evaluated these parameters under a liberal harvest season (3-bird limit; 1989-1997) and a reduced conservative harvest season (2-bird limit; 2000-2007). Estimated recovery rates during the liberal season were 0.75 (SE = 0.05) for adults and 0.63 (SE = 0.04) for juveniles, and recovery rates during the conservative season were 0.61 (SE = 0.04) and 0.48 (SE = 0.05) for adults and juveniles, respectively. Annual survival averaged 0.16 (SE = 0.05) and 0.43 (SE = 0.05) for adults and juveniles, respectively, during the liberal season. Conversely, during the conservative season, annual survival averaged 0.31 (SE = 0.05) and 0.56 (SE = 0.05) for adults and juveniles, respectively. Our findings suggest that bag limit reductions combined with a reduction in season length contributed to a 2-fold increase in annual survival for male wild turkeys. We contend that male wild turkeys were likely over harvested on our study area during the liberal harvest season, which contributed to exceptionally low annual survival rates. Managers should attempt to assess survival rates of male wild turkeys in harvested populations to properly manage spring harvest and develop appropriate harvest limits. © 2012 The Wildlife Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding den selection for the federally threatened Louisiana black bear (Ursus americanus luteolus) will assist managers in effectively managing bear populations and the landscapes they inhabit. We assessed den selection of 72 female Louisiana black bears at multiple spatial scales in northern and central Louisiana, USA. We used 230 den-years to examine den type preference, microhabitat characteristics of dens, and effects of landscape characteristics on den selection. We also evaluated reuse of tree dens and their availability across several study areas. Bears selected tree dens more frequently (65%) than ground dens. Most (55%) ground dens were associated with standing or downed trees, and most tree dens were in baldcypress (Taxodium distichum; 86%) or surrounded by water (80%). Selection of ground dens was positively associated with landscape metrics related to presence of water, whereas selection of tree dens was positively associated with proximity to edge and greater proportions of swamp and areas containing water. Reuse of tree dens averaged 15% (range = 0-20%) across study areas and our estimates of tree-den availability indicated that tree dens were not a limiting resource for Louisiana black bears in the northern or central portions of Louisiana. Although Louisiana black bears demonstrated plasticity in den selection, we recommend managers use forest management practices that conserve appropriate tree dens and create ground-denning opportunities, because both would promote the recovery of Louisiana black bear populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: High yield commercial forests are an important source of fiber for global forest product needs and the southeastern United States is a key region for global wood supply needs with intensively managed pine stands (Pinus spp.) an important component of forested landscapes in this region. Concern has arisen over possible effects of stand establishment practices on vegetation communities within commercial forests, particularly relative to use of herbicides and burning. Therefore, we examined response of plant communities to site preparation within intensively managed pine stands in eastern Louisiana, USA that were either prescribe burned (PF; n =5) or treated with a combination of herbicides (imazapyr and triclopyr) and prescribe burned (PFH; n =5) during 2002. We used 5m line intercepts (n =10 per stand) to quantify species richness, diversity, and relative abundance of plant species for 3 years post-treatment (2003–2005) with a repeated measures analysis of variance. We documented 80 genera or species of plants and neither species richness nor diversity differed between treatments. Site preparation with PFH appeared to promote development of an herbaceous plant community and reduced relative abundance of woody plants, whereas PF-treated sites were dominated by woody vegetation. Our results demonstrate that different plant communities result from PF and PFH site preparation and may place stands on different successional trajectories. We suggest PFH site preparation may increase availability of early successional vegetation associations on managed forest landscapes and may extend the time stands stay in this successional stage. However, increased crop tree growth from site preparation may shorten open canopy conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Declining northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) populations during the past 30 years have prompted managers to seek ways to improve habitat quality for this species. Reductions in frequency of prescribed fire throughout considerable expanses of mature pine (Pinus spp.) forests have resulted in closed-canopy conditions, predominantly woody understory conditions, and a loss of early-successional habitats needed by bobwhites. Herbicides, particularly in conjunction with prescribed fire, may be useful for managing these pine forests to benefit the bobwhite and other early-successional species, but effects of herbicides in combination with fire are not well understood. Therefore, we used 3 similar-aged, mature pine stands to evaluate vegetative response to selective herbicides with prescribed fire with respect to bobwhite nesting and brood-rearing habitats. Our treatments were imazapyr with fire, imazapyr combined with glyphosate with fire, and dormant-season prescribed fire only. Plant diversity tended to decline on herbicide treatments during the first year but increased substantially on imazapyr plots during the second growing season following a burn. Bobwhite food plants increased following application of imazapyr during the first growing season and were greater for both herbicide treatments than burning alone during the second growing season. Abundance of hardwoods declined on both herbicide treatments. However, no treatments produced bare-ground percentages known to be selected by bobwhites, and only prescribed fire alone created and maintained suitable escape cover. Overall, imazapyr with fire provided the greatest net improvement in vegetative conditions for bobwhites and retained floristic diversity. We recommend that managers target areas in which vegetative conditions have progressed to where burning alone is incapable of restoring early-successional plant communities needed by the bobwhite and other species and apply imazapyr with fire to create divers... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Louisiana Black Bear (Ursus americanus luteolus), a threatened species in the United States, inhabits the Tensas and Atchafalaya River Basins of Louisiana. These basins contain three breeding populations, but dispersal among the populations is limited due to habitat fragmentation and a lack of corridors. Highways and railroads bisect the few available corridors, and mortalities occur as a result of collisions with vehicles. Waterways and flood control structures used as travel corridors by bears are crossed by road and rail bridges creating the potential for additional mortalities. We documented two mortalities associated with elevated railroad spans. Both occurred along the same span of track located within the Morganza Spillway in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, and both mortalities were a result of the bear falling from the span or being struck by a train while crossing the trestle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]