Habitat selection of wild turkeys in burned longleaf pine savannas

Abstract

Frequent prescribed fire ( 3 yr) and selective harvest of off-site hardwoods are the primary restoration and management tools for pine (Pinus spp.) savannas in the southeastern United States. However, a knowledge gap exists in our understanding of eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) habitat selection in longleaf pine savannas and research is warranted to direct our future management decisions. Therefore, we investigated habitat selection of female turkeys in 2 longleaf pine savanna systems managed by frequent fire in southwestern Georgia during 2011-2013. We observed differential habitat selection across 2 scales (study area and seasonal area of use) and 3 seasons (fall-winter: 1 Oct-30 Jan; pre-breeding: 1 Feb-19 Apr; and summer: 16 Jun-30 Sep). During fall-winter, turkeys selected mature pine, mixed pine-hardwoods, hardwoods, and young pine stands, albeit at different scales. During pre-breeding, turkeys selected for mature pine, mixed pine-hardwoods, hardwoods, young pine, and shrub-scrub, although at different scales. During summer, turkeys also demonstrated scale-specific selection but generally selected for mature pine, hardwoods, and shrub-scrub. Days-since-fire did not influence selection of stands managed by frequent fire ( 3 yr). In cases where female turkeys used pine-dominated stands (i.e., mature pine, young pine, and mixed pinehardwoods), selection was not influenced by days-since-fire; however, these results are at least partially due to a lack of longer burn rotations (>3 yr) on our study areas. We suggest land managers consider scale of selection by turkeys when developing habitat management strategies. In addition to creating early successional habitat conditions by using prescribed fire, we recommend managers retain hardwoods and recognize the importance of shrub-scrub cover to management of turkey populations in longleaf pine savannas. Ó

Home range estimator method and GPS sampling schedule affect habitat selection inferences for wild turkeys

“…Previous research on habitat selection of wild turkeys has relied mostly on VHF technology and minimum convex polygons or KDE (e.g., Bidwell et al , Palmer et al , Miller et al , Miller and Conner , Little et al ). When compared with ranges estimated with dBBMM, KDEs seem to induce significant error in defining home ranges and corresponding selection estimates of wild turkeys.…”

Incubation recess behaviors influence nest survival of Wild Turkeys

“…Duration of incubation ranges from 25 to 29 days during March-July (Healy, 1992) and during incubation, and females are restricted to an incubation range around the nest site (Conley et al, 2015;Healy, 1992). Nest-site selection and vegetative characteristics at the nest site have historically been considered the primary driver of reproductive success for wild turkeys (Badyaev, Etges, & Martin, 1996;Chamberlain & Leopold, 2000), but contemporary works have noted that vegetative conditions at nest sites may have limited importance to nest success (Byrne & Chamberlain, 2013;Conley et al, 2015;Little, Chamberlain, Conner, & Warren, 2016;Streich, Little, Chamberlain, Conner, & Warren, 2015;Yeldell, Cohen, Little, Collier, & Chamberlain, 2017).…”

Female wild turkey habitat selection in mixed forest‐agricultural landscapes

“…Many wild turkey studies have described fine‐scale habitat characteristics at nest sites (Seiss et al , Thogmartin , Nguyen et al , Lehman et al ), whereas others have examined habitat associations within home ranges (Bidwell et al , Swanson et al , Thogmartin ) or at larger landscape scales (Glennon and Porter , Fleming and Porter ). Few studies have examined turkey habitat associations concurrently at multiple hierarchical scales (Miller et al , Chamberlain and Leopold , Little et al ). We found female wild turkey habitat selection occurred at multiple hierarchical spatial scales in mixed forest‐agricultural landscapes.…”

“…Habitat selection and space use by turkeys has been well documented, particularly in the southeastern United States (Miller et al , Chamberlain and Leopold , Martin et al , Little et al ) and Great Plains regions (Hall et al , Lehman et al ). Others have investigated habitat relationships of female turkeys during the reproductive season (Badyaev et al , Thogmartin , , Pittman and Krementz ); however, studies that have examined habitat selection of turkeys in mixed forest‐agricultural landscapes of the upper Midwest in a post‐restoration era are lacking.…”