EVALUATION OF A FOREST RESTORATION STRATEGY ON SMALL MAMMALS IN SOUTHERN PINE ECOSYSTEMS

<p>Industrial forestry replanted historic native pine forests (e.g., longleaf pine [<em>Pinus</em> <em>palustris</em>] and shortleaf pine [<em>Pinus echinata</em>]) to homogenous, high-density plantations consisting of native off-site species (e.g., loblolly pine [<em>Pinus</em> <em>taeda</em>]) after intensive harvesting for wood products. The contemporary forest structure that remains, consisting of off-site overstory compositions, can potentially serve as an ecological bridge to facilitate a gradual transition to a more desirable canopy species, thereby conserving biodiversity and ecosystem function. Understanding disturbance-sensitive small mammal communities from restoration strategies (retention) can help achieve long-term management goals for ecosystem conservation across larger scales. I utilized bucket camera traps (Hunt Trap) to detect small mammal communities and assess informative forest structure characteristics in sites representative of the retention strategy, which emphasizes forest structure management (i.e., fire) instead of overstory compositions. This research suggests that retention strategies can serve an ecological purpose for conserving biodiversity and uplifting ecosystem function, even with large interannual variation.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science - Forestry

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Forestry

Year dc:date.available

2025

Authors dc:creator

• Grantham, Gage R
• Glasscock, Jessica L
• Schalk, Christopher M
• Kiid, Kathryn R
• Antoniazzi, Reuber

Contributors dc:contributor

• Jessica L. GLasscock
• Christopher M. Schalk
• Kathryn R. Kidd

• Small mammals
• community ecology
• retention
• Red Cockaded woodpeckers
• forest structure
• Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
• Forest Sciences
• Research Methods in Life Sciences

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/633

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.sfasu.edu:etds-1682