Southern flying squirrel use of forests managed for red-cockaded woodpeckers in East-Central Mississippi

Abstract

Southern flying squirrels (Glaucomys volans) occupy and destroy the nests of the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW; Dryobates borealis), yet few studies have assessed habitat use within and outside of forest partitions managed for RCW cavities (“cluster partition”). We estimated flying squirrel densities of 0.23 squirrels/ha (95% CI: 0.21–0.26). Little to no evidence of differences was found between flying squirrel home range sizes nor the relative importance value of mast trees within home ranges (P > 0.05) despite vegetation differences between areas inside and outside of cluster partitions (P ≤ 0.01). The lack of evidence may be due to large nightly movements allowing home ranges to overlap cluster partitions and surrounding hardwood habitats. Future management efforts to reduce flying squirrel and RCW interactions should consider multiple strategies including hardwood reduction near cluster partitions and cavity supplementation.

Keywords

Dryobates borealis / Glaucomys volans / home range / space-use / spatially explicit capture-recapture

References

[1] Adams, I.T. & Campbell, G.D. (1996) Improved radio-collaring for southern flying squirrels. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 24, 4-7.

[2] Akaike, H. (1973) Information theory as an extension of the maximum likelihood principle. In: Petrov, B.N & Csaki, F. (Eds.) Second international symposium on information theory. Budapest, Hungary: Akademiai Kiado. pp. 267-281.

[3] Beck, D.E. & Olson, D.F. (1968) Seed production in southern Appalachian oak stands. Note SE-91 Asheville, NC: USDA Forest Service Research. p.7.

[4] Bendel, P.R. & Gates, J.E. (1987) Home range and microhabitat partitioning of the southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans). Journal of Mammalogy, 68, 243-255.

[5] Blanc, L.A. & Walters, J.R. (2008) Cavity excavation and enlargement as mechanisms for indirect interactions in an avian community. Ecology, 89, 506-514.

[6] Borgo, J.S., Conner, L.M. & Conover, M.R. (2006b) Role of predator odor in roost site selection of southern flying squirrels. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 34, 144-149.

[7] Borgo, J.S., Conover, M.R. & Conner, L.M. (2010) Flying squirrel removal does not reduce their use of simulated red-cockaded woodpecker nest clusters. Southeastern Naturalist, 9, 813-820.

[8] Borgo, J.S., Conover, M.R. & Conner, R.N. (2006a) Nest boxes reduce flying squirrel use of red-cockaded woodpecker cavities. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 34, 171-176.

[9] Calenge, C. (2006) The package “adehabitat” for the R software: a tool for the analysis of space and habitat use by animals. Ecological Modelling, 197, 516-519.

[10] Carrie, N.R., Conner, R.N., Rudolph, D.C. & Carrie, D.K. (1999) Reintroduction and postrelease movements of red-cockaded woodpecker groups in eastern Texas. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 63, 824-832.

[11] Conner, R.N. & Rudolph, D.C. (1995) Excavation dynamics and use patterns of red-cockaded woodpecker cavities: relationships with cooperative breeding. In: Kulhavy, D.L. Hooper, R.G. & Costa R. Red-cockaded woodpecker: recovery, ecology, and management. Nacogdoches, Texas, USA: Center for Applied Studies, College of Forestry, Stephen F. Austin State University.

[12] Conner, R.N., Rudolph, D.C., Saenz, D. & Schaefer, R.R. (1996) Red-cockaded woodpecker nesting success, forest structure, and southern flying squirrels in Texas. The Wilson Bulletin, 108, 697-711.

[13] Conner, R.N., Rudolph, D.C. & Walters, J.R. (2001) The red-cockaded woodpecker: surviving in a fire-maintained ecosystem. Austin, Texas, USA: University of Texas Press.

[14] Copeyon, C.K., Walters, J.R. & Carter III, J.H. (1991) Induction of red-cockaded woodpecker group formation by artificial cavity construction. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 55, 549-556.

[15] Dennis, J.V. (1971) Species using red-cockaded woodpecker holes in northeastern South Carolina. Bird-Banding, 42, 79-87.

[16] Dewitz, J. (2021) National Land Cover Database (NLCD) 2019 Products (ver 3.0, February 2024). U.S. Geological Survey.

[17] Dolan, P.G. & Carter, D.C. (1977) Glaucomys volans. Mammalian Species, 78, 1-6.

[18] Efford, M.G. 2016. secr: Spatially explicit capture-recapture models. R package version 2.10.4.

[19] Eyre F.H. (Ed.) (1980) Forest cover types of the United States and Canada. Washington D.C., USA: Society of American Foresters.

[20] Fischer, J. & Lindenmayer, D.B. (2000) An assessment of the published results of animal relocations. Biological Conservation, 96, 1-11.

[21] Fridell, R.A. & Litvaitis, J.A. (1991) Influence of resource distribution and abundance on home range characteristics of southern flying squirrels. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 69, 2589-2593.

[22] Garroway, C.J., Bowman, J. & Wilson, P.J. (2013) Complex social structure of southern flying squirrels is related to spatial proximity but not kinship. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 67, 113-122.

[23] Gilmore, R.M. & Gates, J.E. (1985) Habitat use by the southern flying squirrel at a hemlock-northern hardwood ecotone. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 49, 703-710.

[24] Harlow, R.F. & Doyle, A.T. (1990) Food habits of southern flying squirrels (Glaucomys volans) collected from red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) colonies in South Carolina. American Midland Naturalist, 124, 187-191.

[25] Jackson, J.A., Lennartz, M.R. & Hooper, R.G. (1979) Tree age and cavity initiation by red-cockaded woodpeckers. Journal of Forestry, 77, 102-103.

[26] Kappes, J.J. (2008) Cavity number and use by other species as correlates of group size in Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. The Wilson Journal of Ornithology, 120, 181-189.

[27] Lavers, A.J. (2004). Spatial ecology in a northern disjunct population of southern flying squirrel, Glaucomys volans. Masters thesis, Acadia University.

[28] Laves, K.S. & Loeb, S.C. (2006) Differential estimates of southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) population structure based on capture method. The American Midland Naturalist, 155, 237-243.

[29] Laves, K.S., Loeb, S.C., Laves, K.S. & Loeb, S.C. (1999) Effects of southern flying squirrels (Glaucomys volans) on red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) reproductive success. Animal Conservation, 2, 295-303.

[30] Lewis, R.M., Armstrong, D.P., Joy, M.K., Richard, Y., Ravine, D., Berggren, A. et al. (2009) Using artificial nests to predict nest survival at reintroduction sites. New Zealand Journal of Ecology, 33, 40-51.

[31] Loeb, S.C. (1993) Use and selection of red-cockaded woodpecker cavities by southern flying squirrels. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 57, 329-335.

[32] Loeb, S.C. & Hooper, R.G. (1997) An experimental test of interspecific competition for red-cockaded woodpecker cavities. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 61, 1268-1280.

[33] Loeb, S.C., Reid, S.L. & Lipscomb, D.J. (2012) Habitat and landscape correlates of southern flying squirrel use of red-cockaded woodpecker clusters. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 76, 1509-1518.

[34] Madden, J.R. (1974) Female territoriality in a Suffolk County, Long Island, population of Glaucomys volans. Journal of Mammalogy, 55, 647-652.

[35] Mech, L.D. (1983) A handbook of animal radiotracking. Minneapolis, MN, USA: University of Minnesota Press.

[36] Meyer, R.T. & Cox, J.A. (2019) Capsaicin as a tool for repelling southern flying squirrels from red-cockaded woodpecker cavities. Human Wildlife Interactions, 13, 79-86.

[37] Meyer, R.T. & Cox, J.A. (2021) Cavity construction by reintroduced populations of red-cockaded woodpeckers (Dryobates borealis). Restoration Ecology, 29, 1-8.

[38] Meyer, R.T. & Rush, S.A. (2024) Southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) diet composition in red-cockaded woodpecker (Dryobates borealis) groups in Mississippi and Alabama. Food Webs, 39, e00346.

[39] Mitchell, L.R., Chandler, C.R. & Carlile, L.D. (2005) Research notes: habitat as a predictor of southern flying squirrel abundance in red-cockaded woodpecker cavity clusters. Journal of Wildlife Management, 69, 418-423.

[40] MMorandini, V. & Ferrer, M. (2017) How to plan reintroductions of long-lived birds. PLoS One, 12, e0174186.

[41] MMorris, V. (2014) Tree foiling: a treatment to improve nesting success by red-cockaded woodpeckers (Picoides borealis). Florida Field Naturalist, 42, 54-60.

[42] Neal, J.C., James, D.A., Montague, W.G. & Johnson, J.E. (1993) Effects of weather and helpers on survival of nestling red-cockaded woodpeckers. Wilson Bulletin, 105, 666-673, pp.

[43] R Core Team (2024) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria. http://www.R-project.org/

[44] Richardson, D.M., Bradford, J.W., Range, P.G. & Christensen, J. (1999) A video probe system to inspect red-cockaded woodpecker cavities. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 27, 353-356.

[45] Saenz, D., Baum, K.A., Conner, R.N., Rudolph, D.C. & Costa, R. (2002) Large-scale translocation strategies for reintroducing red-cockaded woodpeckers. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 66, 212-221.

[46] Seddon, P.J., Armstrong, D.P. & Maloney, R.F. (2007) Developing the science of reintroduction biology. Conservation Biology, 21, 303-312.

[47] Sikes, R.S., the Animal Care and Use Committee of the American Society of Mammalogists. (2016) 2016 Guidelines of the American Society of Mammalogists for the use of wild mammals in research and education. Journal of Mammalogy, 97, 663-688.

[48] Smith, R.L. & Smith, T.M. (2001) Ecology and field biology. San Francisco, California, USA: Addison Wesley Longman 6th edition.

[49] Stober, J.M. & Conner, M.L. (2007) Scent deterrence to reduce southern flying squirrel kleptoparasitism of red-cockaded woodpecker cavities. Human Wildlife Conflicts, 1, 45-48.

[50] Stone, K.D., Heidt, G.A., Caster, P.T. & Kennedy, M.L. (1997) Using geographic information systems to determine home range of the southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans). American Midland Naturalist, 137, 106-111.

[51] Swaisgood, R.R., Montagne, J.P., Lenihan, C.M., Wisinski, C.L., Nordstrom, L.A. & Shier, D.M. (2019) Capturing pests and releasing ecosystem engineers: translocation of common but diminished species to re-establish ecological roles. Animal Conservation, 22, 600-610.

[52] Thomas, R.B. & Weigl, P.D. (1998) Dynamic foraging behavior in the southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans): test of a model. The American Midland Naturalist, 140, 264-270.

[53] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). (2003) Recovery plan for the red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis): second revision. Atlanta, Georgia, USA: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

[54] U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). (2014) Comprehensive conservation plan and environmental assessment for Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge, 1. Atlanta, Georgia, USA: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

[55] Walters, J.R. (1990) The red-cockaded woodpecker: a “primitive” cooperative breeder. In: Stacey, P.B. & Koenig, W.D. Cooperative breeding in birds: long term studies of ecology and behavior. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2024 The Author(s). Wildlife Letters published by Northeast Forestry University and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.