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Home range and habitat use of the Vulnerable Virginia northern flying squirrel Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus in the Central Appalachian Mountains, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2006

Jennifer M. Menzel
Affiliation:
Current address: 1235, Grand View Drive, Mableton, GA30126, USA USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station, Box 404, Parsons, WV 26287, USA
W. Mark Ford
Affiliation:
USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station, Box 404, Parsons, WV 26287, USA
John W. Edwards
Affiliation:
West Virginia University, Division of Forestry, Box 6125, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
Tamara M. Terry
Affiliation:
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife, 1 Game Farm Road, Frankfort, KY 40601, USA
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Abstract

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The Virginia northern flying squirrel Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus is a Vulnerable sciurid that has experienced a 90% reduction of suitable high elevation boreal montane forest habitat over the last century in the central Appalachians of West Virginia and Virginia, USA. Using radiotelemetry and GIS analyses we examined the species' home range size and habitat use in the Monongahela National Forest, Kumbrabow State Forest and the MeadWestvaco Ecosystem Research Forest in West Virginia during the summers of 2000–2003. The mean home range sizes of male and female squirrels were 54.2 and 15.3 ha, respectively, based on the adaptive kernel method. Euclidean distance analysis indicated the squirrels used spruce, mixed spruce-northern hardwood, and open habitats more than was available across the landscape. Selection of spruce and mixed spruce-northern hardwood habitats indicates that forest management activities designed to restore and increase these types in the central Appalachian landscape are required to conserve and increase this Vulnerable species.

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Articles
Copyright
© 2006 Fauna & Flora International