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Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Forest Sciences

It's Time To Check The Nets: Research And Conservation Of Rafinesque Big-Eared Bats In East Texas, Christopher E. Comer Oct 2009

It's Time To Check The Nets: Research And Conservation Of Rafinesque Big-Eared Bats In East Texas, Christopher E. Comer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Habitat Selection By Anolis Carolinensis (Green Anole) In Open Pine Forests In Eastern Texas, Richard R. Schaefer, Robert R. Fleet, D. Craig Rudolph, Nancy E. Koerth Jan 2009

Habitat Selection By Anolis Carolinensis (Green Anole) In Open Pine Forests In Eastern Texas, Richard R. Schaefer, Robert R. Fleet, D. Craig Rudolph, Nancy E. Koerth

Faculty Publications

We initiated a mark-recapture study to determine the effects of shrub density on Anolis carolinensis (Green Anole) populations. Green Anole perch site, shrub species, and shrub volume preferences were also examined. We established two study plots of different shrub densities in open pine forests on the Angelina National Forest in eastern Texas. In late spring, the Green Anole population at the higher shrub-density plot was estimated to be 16 times greater than the population at the lower shrub-density plot. Green Anoles most commonly perched on live shrubs, but exhibited very little preference or avoidance of any particular species of live …


A New Whole-Stand Model For Unmanaged Loblolly And Slash Pine Plantations In East Texas, Dean W. Coble Jan 2009

A New Whole-Stand Model For Unmanaged Loblolly And Slash Pine Plantations In East Texas, Dean W. Coble

Faculty Publications

A new compatible whole-stand growth-and-yield model to predict total tree cubic-foot volume per acre yield (outside and inside bark) was developed for unmanaged loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) and slash pine (Pinus elliottii) plantations in East Texas. This model was compared with the noncompatible whole-stand model of Lenhart (Lenhart, 1996, Total and partial stand-level yield prediction for loblolly and slash pine plantations in east Texas, South. J. Appl. For. 20(1):36–41) and the Lenhart (1996) model refit to current data. For the two species, all three models were evaluated with independent observed data. The model developed in this study outperformed both Lenhart …


Habitat Use Of American Alligators In East Texas, Warren C. Conway, Kevin Webb, Gary Calkins, Jeffrey Duguay Jan 2009

Habitat Use Of American Alligators In East Texas, Warren C. Conway, Kevin Webb, Gary Calkins, Jeffrey Duguay

Faculty Publications

The American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) has made a remarkable recovery throughout its range during the last halfcentury. In Texas, USA, current inland alligator population and harvest management strategies rely on generalized and often site-specific habitat and population data generated from coastal populations, because it is assumed that habitat and demographic similarities exist between inland and coastal populations. These assumptions have not been verified, however, and no studies have specifically examined inland alligator habitat use in Texas. We quantified alligator habitat use in East Texas during 2003–2004 to address this information gap and to facilitate development of regionally specific management strategies. …


Recovery Of Nesting Bald Eagles In Texas (Abstract), Sarah T. Saalfeld, Warren C. Conway Jan 2009

Recovery Of Nesting Bald Eagles In Texas (Abstract), Sarah T. Saalfeld, Warren C. Conway

Faculty Publications

One of the most successful conservation stories in United States' history resulted in Haliaeetus leucocephalus (Bald Eagle) being removed recently from the federal endangered species list. Few studies, however, have documented regional long-term recovery trends for Bald Eagles. We quantified Bald Eagle nesting density, distribution, and productivity trends by using aerial surveys of nests located 69 counties in eastern Texas from 1971-2005. The total number of occupied nests, productive nests, and offspring produced increased exponentially during that time with the most dramatic increases occurring from 1995-2005. Since 1971, the total number of occupied nests increased 13% per year, from 5 …


Wintering Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker Time Activity Budgets In East Texas Bottomland Hardwood Forests (Abstract), Jason R. Speights, Warren C. Conway Jan 2009

Wintering Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker Time Activity Budgets In East Texas Bottomland Hardwood Forests (Abstract), Jason R. Speights, Warren C. Conway

Faculty Publications

We developed time-activity budgets for 286 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers (Sphyrapicus varius) from October 2005/2006 to March 2006/2007 in east Texas bottomland hardwood forests. Behaviors were similar between genders and study sites (P > 0.05), but varied (P = 0.008) between years. Sapsuckers spent more time foraging upon arrival in wintering areas and during morning throughout the study periods. Deviation from monthly average low temperature was an important (P = 0.038) covariate during the second study year, when sapsuckers increased time spent foraging during colder than average temperatures and increased time perching on days with warmer than average …


Invertebrate Biomass And Richness In Various Food Plot Types In East Texas, Charles W. Anderson, R. Montague Whiting Jr., Donald R. Dietz, Richard M. Capps Jan 2009

Invertebrate Biomass And Richness In Various Food Plot Types In East Texas, Charles W. Anderson, R. Montague Whiting Jr., Donald R. Dietz, Richard M. Capps

Faculty Publications

As northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) chicks are dependent on invertebrates for food, land managers often use spring/summer food plots to meet these needs. We examined invertebrate production in native vegetation and 6 different food plot types (i.e., fallow disking only; fallow disking and fertilizing; or disking, fertilizing, and planting a single species [browntop millet, iron and clay peas, or sorghum] or a multi-species mix [browntop millet, catjang peas, iron and clay peas, Japanese millet, and pearl millet]) in the Pineywoods of east Texas. Invertebrates were collected weekly during the summers of 1997 and 1999 and for 5 weekly sampling periods …


Winter Food Habits And Preferences Of Northern Bobwhites In East Texas, Donald R. Dietz, R. Montague Whiting Jr., Nancy E. Koerth Jan 2009

Winter Food Habits And Preferences Of Northern Bobwhites In East Texas, Donald R. Dietz, R. Montague Whiting Jr., Nancy E. Koerth

Faculty Publications

During late winter, 1994 and 1995, we investigated food habits and preferences of northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus; hereafter, bobwhites) collected on forested lands in east Texas. Crops for bobwhites were collected from areas under 3 management regimes, namely intensively managed for bobwhites (QMA) (i.e., tree basal area reduced, annually burned, numerous multi-stage food plots, etc.), extensively managed for timber and wildlife (NBS) (i.e., burned every 3-5 years, scattered 2-stage food plots with corn feeders), and unmanaged for wildlife (i.e., burned every 5-7 years). With years pooled, partridge pea (Cassia fasciculata), Hercules club (Zanthoxylum clava-herculis), and pine (Pinus spp.) seeds, and …


Forval: Computer Software Package For Agricultural And Natural Resources Investment Analysis, T. J. Straka, Steven H. Bullard Jan 2009

Forval: Computer Software Package For Agricultural And Natural Resources Investment Analysis, T. J. Straka, Steven H. Bullard

Faculty Publications

The valuation of agricultural and natural resource investments presents challenging analysis problems that often require the use of computer software. Most of these computer packages are complex and costly. FORVAL is a free, user-friendly, menu-driven, agricultural and natural resource investment analysis package. It can accommodate any investment scenario and includes the standard financial criteria (net present value, rate of return, equal annual income, benefit/cost ratio, and land expectation value for forestry investments). FORVAL accommodates various cash flows like single sum, terminating annual and periodic series, and perpetual annual and periodic series. It also has options for payment and price projections.


Ecological Parameters Of Coluber Constrictor Etheridgei, With Comparisons To Other Coluber Constrictor Subspecies, Robert R. Fleet, D. Craig Rudolph, J. D. Camper, J. Niederhofer Jan 2009

Ecological Parameters Of Coluber Constrictor Etheridgei, With Comparisons To Other Coluber Constrictor Subspecies, Robert R. Fleet, D. Craig Rudolph, J. D. Camper, J. Niederhofer

Faculty Publications

In 1998, we conducted a radio-telemetry study of Coluber constrictor etheridgei (Tan Racer) in the Angelina National Forest in eastern Texas. Individuals were located once daily from 12 June to 14 August. We determined home-range size, movement distances, movement frequency, and habitat use for this short-term study. We also determined food habits of this population by examination of fecal samples. We compared these parameters to other Racer taxa in Utah (C. c. mormon [Western Yellow-bellied Racer]), Kansas (C. c. fl aviventris [Eastern Yellow-bellied Racer]), and South Carolina (C.c. priapus [Southern Black Racer]). Compared to these populations, Texas Racers exhibited larger …


Integration Of Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (Musle) Into A Gis Framework To Assess Soil Erosion Risk, Yanli Zhang, J. Degroote, Calvin Wolter, Ramanathan Sugumaran Jan 2009

Integration Of Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (Musle) Into A Gis Framework To Assess Soil Erosion Risk, Yanli Zhang, J. Degroote, Calvin Wolter, Ramanathan Sugumaran

Faculty Publications

Soil erosion is an important economic and environmental concern throughout the world. In order to assess soil erosion risk and conserve water and soil resources, soil erosion modeling at the watershed scale is urgently needed. This study integrated the Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (MUSLE) in a Geographic Information System (GIS) framework in the form of a tool called ArcMUSLE, an extension of ArcGIS® software, to assist soil and water conservation agencies in soil erosion risk assessment and prioritization of critical areas for soil erosion control practices. With widely available spatial data, this tool can be applied to determine curve …