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HABITAT USE BY THE SOUTHEASTERN BEACH MOUSE (PEROMYSCUS POLIONOTUS NIVEIVENTRIS) AT CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FLORIDA
Title
HABITAT USE BY THE SOUTHEASTERN BEACH MOUSE (PEROMYSCUS POLIONOTUS NIVEIVENTRIS) AT CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FLORIDA.
Creator
Simmons, Kathryn, Stout, I. Jack, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Successful recovery of the federally threatened southeastern beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus niveiventris) depends in part on an understanding of their habitat requirements. I studied habitat use by beach mice at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida from March 2005 until March 2006. I livetrapped six grids, three on coastal dunes and three within scrub located inland from the coast. On each grid and trap station, I quantified the extent of bare ground, woody vegetation, non-woody...
Show moreSuccessful recovery of the federally threatened southeastern beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus niveiventris) depends in part on an understanding of their habitat requirements. I studied habitat use by beach mice at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida from March 2005 until March 2006. I livetrapped six grids, three on coastal dunes and three within scrub located inland from the coast. On each grid and trap station, I quantified the extent of bare ground, woody vegetation, non-woody vegetation, height of vegetation, and percentage of coarse sand in the surface soil. I assessed trap success relative to these habitat variables using linear and multiple regression, correlation, and ordination. Significantly higher numbers of mice were captured in the scrub habitat relative to the coastal habitat. Linear regression of trap success against the habitat variables did not reveal any significant relationships at the level of grids. A non-metric multidimensional scaling model was designed to capture the vegetation heterogeneity at the trapping sites and clarify the results. This methodology identified a predominantly dune and predominately scrub cluster of trap sites. A bubble plot showed higher densities of beach mice using the scrub habitat types. These results suggest beach mice are selecting for those habitat variables defined by the ordination: higher vegetation height, more woody vegetation types, less bare ground, and less heterogeneity.
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Date Issued
2009
Identifier
CFE0002605, ucf:48271
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002605
SEASONAL AND DIEL PATTERNS OF MANATEE HABITAT USE
Title
SEASONAL AND DIEL PATTERNS OF MANATEE HABITAT USE.
Creator
Ross, Monica, Weishampel, John, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
State and Federal agencies have created sanctuaries and speed zones to help reduce manatee mortality while incorporating the recreational and commercial resource needs of these same habitats for humans. Specific habitat resources are considered necessary to increase manatee survivorship. We have only recently begun to address how manatees use some of these resources based on physiological or reproductive strategies. In this study, I quantified patterns of habitat use during seasonal and diel...
Show moreState and Federal agencies have created sanctuaries and speed zones to help reduce manatee mortality while incorporating the recreational and commercial resource needs of these same habitats for humans. Specific habitat resources are considered necessary to increase manatee survivorship. We have only recently begun to address how manatees use some of these resources based on physiological or reproductive strategies. In this study, I quantified patterns of habitat use during seasonal and diel periods for different sex and reproductive manatee classes using data from a radio-telemetry study conducted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission during 1991-1996. I used five environmental geographic data layers: bathymetry, distance to seagrass, distance to shoreline, distance to warm water refuge sites, and distance to fresh water sources, to discriminate seasonal and diel habitat use patterns for different manatee classes: males (M), females with calves (FWC), and females without calves (FNC). Mean occupancy values were calculated for environmental variable locations and seasonal, diel, and manatee class differences were tested using a Multi-Response Permutation Procedure (MRPP). Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling (NMS) was used to visualize the ordination patterns of the manatee classes and to assess importance of correlated environmental variables. Significant differences in habitat use were noted between summer and winter based on distances to warm water, seagrass, and fresh water sources but similar habitat use patterns were exhibited within summer diel periods among manatee classes. All manatee classes appeared to have used a higher proportion of locations closer in proximity to seagrass at night than day in winter indicating a disproportionate difference in feeding bouts between diel periods. These differences may be attributed to adjusting feeding strategies to reduce thermoregulatory costs or to decrease human interactions. Differences in patterns were exhibited for the winter diel periods specifically for the FWC manatee classes during winter days. FWC had a higher proportion of locations within the warm water refuges during the day indicating a possible trade off situation between food consumption and thermal exposure. This study demonstrates coarse and fine scale patterns of variation in habitat use for manatees both seasonally and daily within winter. It also suggests that during winter months, manatees were not just utilizing their habitat but they appeared to have preferences and selection for certain habitat types. Recovery of a species is greatly enhanced when patterns of habitat use within the species' environment has been clearly defined. Understanding more specifically what types of habitats manatees choose might allow management to adjust strategies for protection of key habitats while encouraging further recovery of this species.
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Date Issued
2007
Identifier
CFE0001896, ucf:47408
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001896
Habitat selection in transformed landscapes and the role of novel ecosystems for native species persistence
Title
Habitat selection in transformed landscapes and the role of novel ecosystems for native species persistence.
Creator
Sanchez Clavijo, Lina, Quintana-Ascencio, Pedro, Noss, Reed, Weishampel, John, Rodewald, Amanda, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
To understand native species persistence in transformed landscapes we must evaluate how individual behaviors interact with landscape structure through ecological processes such as habitat selection. Rapid, widespread landscape transformation may lead to a mismatch between habitat preference and quality, a phenomenon known as ecological traps that can have negative outcomes for populations. I applied this framework to the study of birds inhabiting landscapes dominated by forest remnants and...
Show moreTo understand native species persistence in transformed landscapes we must evaluate how individual behaviors interact with landscape structure through ecological processes such as habitat selection. Rapid, widespread landscape transformation may lead to a mismatch between habitat preference and quality, a phenomenon known as ecological traps that can have negative outcomes for populations. I applied this framework to the study of birds inhabiting landscapes dominated by forest remnants and shade coffee plantations, a tropical agroforestry system that retains important portions of native biodiversity. I used two different approaches to answer the question: What is the role of habitat selection in the adaptation of native species to transformed landscapes? First, I present the results of a simulation model used to evaluate the effects of landscape structure on population dynamics of a hypothetical species under two mechanisms of habitat selection. Then I present the analyses of seven years of capture-mark-recapture and resight data collected to compare habitat preference and quality between shade coffee and forest for twelve resident bird species in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Colombia). I provide evidence for the importance of including the landscape context in the evaluation of ecological traps and for using long-term demographic data when evaluating the potential of novel ecosystems and intermediately-modified habitats for biodiversity conservation. Beyond suggestions to improve bird conservation in shade coffee, my findings contribute to theory about ecological traps and can be applied to understand population processes in a wide variety of heterogeneous landscapes.
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Date Issued
2016
Identifier
CFE0006494, ucf:51392
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006494
Variation in Prospecting Behavior and Drivers of Post-Fire Habitat Preference Among Juvenile Florida Scrub-Jays
Title
Variation in Prospecting Behavior and Drivers of Post-Fire Habitat Preference Among Juvenile Florida Scrub-Jays.
Creator
Sherer, David, Bohlen, Patrick, Bowman, Reed, Jenkins, David, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Florida Scrub-Jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens, FLSJ; federally Threatened) are cooperatively breeding birds endemic to Florida and dependent on fire-maintained xeric oak scrub. FLSJs are year-round residents, highly territorial, and rarely disperse far from their natal territory. Lifetime reproductive success is highest among individuals breeding in early-successional habitat, usually less than 9 to 10 years post-fire. However, because scrub burns infrequently such early-successional, high...
Show moreFlorida Scrub-Jays (Aphelocoma coerulescens, FLSJ; federally Threatened) are cooperatively breeding birds endemic to Florida and dependent on fire-maintained xeric oak scrub. FLSJs are year-round residents, highly territorial, and rarely disperse far from their natal territory. Lifetime reproductive success is highest among individuals breeding in early-successional habitat, usually less than 9 to 10 years post-fire. However, because scrub burns infrequently such early-successional, high-quality habitat is extremely limited and competition for it as breeding space is likely intense. Because some birds live long enough to experience habitat succession, FLSJs also occupy later-successional overgrown scrub, even though both survival and fecundity decline. Although immigration rates into later-successional habitat decline, some birds settle there, perhaps to avoid competition. Prior to dispersal into new breeding territories, most non-breeders engage in pre-dispersal forays, which occur before and immediately after the breeding season. Because FLSJ territories occur across a gradient of post-fire succession, and young birds make frequent forays beyond their natal territories, and are highly visible while doing so, they are ideal models to test how individual and environmental factors drive habitat preference when exploring a post-fire mosaic. I investigated how individual behavioral phenotype, natal territory condition, and body condition relative to conspecifics influence extra-territorial foray behavior across a habitat mosaic that includes various time-since-fire (TSF) intervals. My study system was a population of individually marked FLSJs on 1,214-ha of managed scrub at Archbold Biological Station (Highlands County, Florida). I measured off-territory movements of 114 yearling birds in three annual cohorts and quantified habitat preference using fine-scale fire history records. These data, paired with behavioral assays and morphometric records for each individual FLSJ, allowed me to create and compare models of exploratory behavior underlying searching patterns during pre-breeding forays. My results indicate significant variation in habitat preference by individual FLSJs during forays, driven by an individual's behavioral phenotype and the TSF of its natal territory.
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Date Issued
2019
Identifier
CFE0007864, ucf:52790
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007864