Wildlife Response to Wildfire in a Northern New York Jack Pine Barrens

Natural disturbances are an integral part of forested ecosystem function and successional pathways. In many forested ecosystems, wildfires are critical to shaping composition and structure, which, in turn, has major implications for wildlife usage and behavior. In July 2018, a wildfire burned 225 ha of the Altona Flat Rock pine barrens in northern New York. This event presented the opportunity to study how wildlife respond to the immediate effects of disturbance in this unique habitat but also how that response would change through time as regeneration progressed. Game cameras were deployed from September 2018 to September 2020 at two reference (unburned) and two disturbed (burned) sites within the pine barrens. We analyzed total and seasonal occurrences, to determine how usage differed between disturbed and reference conditions, and with time since disturbance. Additionally, for coyote (Canis latrans, Say), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus, Zimmermann), and snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus, Erxleben), we evaluated daily activity patterns and overlap to determine how predator–prey relationships differed between conditions, and with time since disturbance. Over 730 days, a total of 1048 wildlife occurrences were captured across 23 wildlife species. Fifty-seven percent of all occurrences were at reference sites with over 100 more occurrences than at disturbed sites; however, differences were most pronounced immediately following the fire and overall occurrences have grown more similar between the sites over time. Specifically, deer and hare were found more often at reference sites immediately following the fire, but shifted to using both conditions equally by the first growing season. Habitat overlap among sympatric prey (deer, hare) can be explained by understory regeneration increasing foraging opportunities and concealment cover in the disturbed condition, while predators (coyotes) tracked prey availability regardless of the habitat condition. This study provides wildlife management guidance on habitat use and response to disturbance for these unique sandstone pavement barrens.

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Regionalisation is key to establishing reference conditions for neotropical savanna streams

Marine and Freshwater Research ◽

10.1071/mf16381 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 69 (1) ◽

pp. 82 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Isabela Martins ◽

Raphael Ligeiro ◽

Robert M. Hughes ◽

Diego R. Macedo ◽

Marcos Callisto

Keyword(s):

Environmental Variability ◽

Landscape Heterogeneity ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Reference Conditions ◽

Physical Habitat ◽

Reference Sites ◽

Macroinvertebrate Assemblages ◽

Landscape Unit ◽

Composition And Structure ◽

Landscape Units

Areas with minimal anthropogenic influences are frequently used as reference sites and represent the best ecological state available in a region. Streams in such conditions are necessary for evaluating the conservation status of aquatic ecosystems of a region and to monitor them, taking natural environmental variability into consideration. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyse whether hydrological units are reliable regional units for aggregating reference sites. To this end, reference sites were studied in three different landscape units of the same hydrological unit. The study tested the hypothesis that water quality, physical habitat structure and the composition and structure of macroinvertebrate assemblages will be more similar for sites in the same landscape unit than for sites located in different landscape units in the same hydrological unit. The study showed that taxonomic richness and composition of the macroinvertebrate assemblages were negatively affected by site slope and positively affected by the presence of leaf packs on the streambed. The three landscape units supported significantly different macroinvertebrate assemblages and indicator taxa. Therefore, a hydrological unit does not constitute a homogeneous entity in terms of environmental variables and biological composition if it incorporates high landscape heterogeneity. These results should improve and facilitate the selection of reference sites for biomonitoring programs and for managing tropical headwater streams.

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Mowing and Herbicide of Scrub Oaks in Pine Barrens: Baseline Data (New York)

Ecological Restoration ◽

10.3368/er.28.3.245 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 28 (3) ◽

pp. 245-248 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

J. T. Bried ◽

N. A. Gifford

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Baseline Data ◽

Pine Barrens

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Seasonal Activity of Haemaphysalis longicornis (Acari: Ixodidae) in Southern New York State

Journal of Medical Entomology ◽

10.1093/jme/tjaa203 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nicholas P Piedmonte ◽

Vanessa C Vinci ◽

Thomas J Daniels ◽

Bryon P Backenson ◽

Richard C Falco

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

New York ◽

Activity Patterns ◽

New York State ◽

The United States ◽

Haemaphysalis Longicornis ◽

Seasonal Activity ◽

Eastern Asia ◽

Short Life ◽

Human Bite

Abstract The Asian longhorned tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis Neumann, is a species native to eastern Asia that has recently been discovered in the United States. In its native range, H. longicornis transmits pathogens that cause disease in humans and livestock. It is currently unknown whether H. longicornis will act as a vector in the United States. Understanding its seasonal activity patterns will be important in identifying which times of the year represent greatest potential risk to humans and livestock should this species become a threat to animal or public health. A study site was established in Yonkers, NY near the residence associated with the first reported human bite from H. longicornis in the United States. Ticks were collected once each week from July 2018 to November 2019. Haemaphysalis longicornis larvae were most active from August to November, nymphs from April to July, and adult females from June to September. This pattern of activity suggests that H. longicornis is capable of completing a generation within a single year and matches the patterns observed in its other ranges in the northern hemisphere. The data presented here contribute to a growing database for H. longicornis phenology in the northeastern United States. Potential implications of the short life cycle for the tick’s vectorial capacity are discussed.

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Urban Time Allocation: Human Activity Patterns in the City . Things People Do in Time and Space. F. Stuart Chapin, Jr. Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1974. xxiv, 272 pp., illus. $12.50. Wiley Series in Urban Research.

Science ◽

10.1126/science.187.4181.1072 ◽

1975 ◽

Vol 187 (4181) ◽

pp. 1072-1072

Author(s):

Gerald D. Suttles

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Human Activity ◽

Time Allocation ◽

Activity Patterns ◽

Time And Space ◽

Urban Research ◽

Human Activity Patterns ◽

The City

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Patterns of Acoustical Activity of Bats Prior to and Following White-Nose Syndrome Occurrence

Journal of Fish and Wildlife Management ◽

10.3996/042011-jfwm-027 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 125-134 ◽

Cited By ~ 39

Author(s):

W. Mark Ford ◽

Eric R. Britzke ◽

Christopher A. Dobony ◽

Jane L. Rodrigue ◽

Joshua B. Johnson

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Activity Patterns ◽

Local Population ◽

Late Summer ◽

Time Frame ◽

Myotis Lucifugus ◽

Health Concern ◽

Activity Levels ◽

White Nose Syndrome ◽

Little Brown Bats

Abstract White-nose Syndrome (WNS), a wildlife health concern that has decimated cave-hibernating bat populations in eastern North America since 2006, began affecting source-caves for summer bat populations at Fort Drum, a U.S. Army installation in New York in the winter of 2007–2008. As regional die-offs of bats became evident, and Fort Drum's known populations began showing declines, we examined whether WNS-induced change in abundance patterns and seasonal timing of bat activity could be quantified using acoustical surveys, 2003–2010, at structurally uncluttered riparian–water habitats (i.e., streams, ponds, and wet meadows). As predicted, we observed significant declines in overall summer activity between pre-WNS and post-WNS years for little brown bats Myotis lucifugus, northern bats M. septentrionalis, and Indiana bats M. sodalis. We did not observe any significant change in activity patterns between pre-WNS and post-WNS years for big brown bats Eptesicus fuscus, eastern red bats Lasiurus borealis, or the small number of tri-colored bats Perimyotis subflavus. Activity of silver-haired bats Lasionycteris noctivagans increased from pre-WNS to post-WNS years. Activity levels of hoary bats Lasiurus cinereus significantly declined between pre- and post-WNS years. As a nonhibernating, migratory species, hoary bat declines might be correlated with wind-energy development impacts occurring in the same time frame rather than WNS. Intraseason activity patterns also were affected by WNS, though the results were highly variable among species. Little brown bats showed an overall increase in activity from early to late summer pre-WNS, presumably due to detections of newly volant young added to the local population. However, the opposite occurred post-WNS, indicating that reproduction among surviving little brown bats may be declining. Our data suggest that acoustical monitoring during the summer season can provide insights into species' relative abundance on the landscape as affected by the occurrence of WNS.

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