Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Dr Peter Lurz
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
The native Eurasian red squirrel is considered endangered in the UK and under strict legal protection. Long-term habitat management is a key goal of the UK conservation strategy. Current selection criteria of reserves and subsequent management mainly consider species composition and food availability. However, there exists a critical gap in understanding and quantifying the relationship between squirrel abundance, their habitat use and forest structural factors. This is partly a result of limited availability of structural data along with cost-efficient data collection methods. We investigated the relationship between structural characteristics and squirrel feeding activity in Scots pine. Field data were collected from two study areas: Abernethy and Aberfoyle Forest. Canopy closure, diameter at breast height, tree height and number of trees were measured in 56 plots. Abundance of squirrel feeding signs was used as an index of habitat use. We used a generalized linear model to model the response of cones stripped by squirrel in relation to field-collected structural variables. Results show that forest structural characteristics are significant predictors of feeding sign presence; canopy closure and number of trees contribute to explain 43 per cent of the variation in stripped cones. Our findings critically highlight the need to consider stand structure in management for red squirrels.
Author(s): Flaherty S, Patenaude G, Close A, Lurz PWW
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Forestry
Year: 2012
Volume: 85
Issue: 3
Pages: 437-444
Print publication date: 20/05/2012
ISSN (print): 0015-752X
ISSN (electronic): 1464-3626
Publisher: Oxford University Press
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/forestry/cps042
DOI: 10.1093/forestry/cps042
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
