At a fine scale, hardwood patches support wildlife diversity in longleaf pine woodlands

Abstract

Restoring and maintaining biodiversity in a changing world is increasingly challenging due to the competing needs of species for suitable space and resources. One ecosystem that has seen considerable anthropogenic changes in extent and structure is the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystem. Understanding how wildlife responds to restoration is important to informing forest restoration and conservation. We monitored game birds and mid-large-sized mammal occupancy in and around hardwood patches embedded within a longleaf pine woodland at The Jones Center at Ichauway in Newton, GA. We found that 11 species use the transition zone between the longleaf pine and hardwood hammocks. Gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana), and nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus) occupancy increased along the gradient while fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) declined. Our results suggest that oak patches and transitional zones are important to maintaining biodiversity within the longleaf pine ecosystem.