Category: Fish & Wildlife

How Did the Fish Get Across the Road?

by Julia Kirschman,SRS Upland Hardwood Ecology and Management unit  • 
Early in the morning, a crew is gearing up for another day. Dip nets, waders, buckets, snorkeling gear and measuring devices are loaded into the truck. Off they go on another assignment—another stream to survey, monitoring equipment to install, aquatic organisms to inventory, stream crossings to photograph.  After a long drive back to the office, the…  More 

Climate Change Projected to Alter Indiana Bat Maternity Range

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Research by U.S. Forest Service scientists forecasts profound changes over the next 50 years in the summer range of the endangered Indiana bat, one of many eastern bat species whose numbers are already decreasing due to white-nose syndrome and other factors. In an article published in the journal Ecology and Evolution, Forest Service Southern Research…  More 

Invasive Tallow Tree Lowers Frog Egg Survival

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
  Aquatic “mesocosm” used to test effects of tallow tree litter on southern leopard frog eggs. Photo by Cory Adams. Amphibians across the world are rapidly declining. Numerous studies have addressed causes of the decline, but very few have looked at the effects of invasive plants. Dan Saenz, Southern Research Station (SRS) research wildlife biologist…  More 

North American Freshwater Mussels

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
New Book Highlights Natural History, Ecology, and Conservation A new book by Southern Research Station (SRS) scientist Wendell Haag provides the first comprehensive view of the ecology and conservation of the approximately 300 species of North American freshwater mussels. Intended for resource managers, scientists, students, and those interested in natural history, North American Freshwater Mussels…  More 

Prescribed Fire in the Piney Woods

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Effects on amphibians and reptiles Forest managers across North America use prescribed burning for many reasons—restoring ecosystem functions, improving wildlife habitat, reducing wildlife hazard, to name a few. Prescribed fire can have both beneficial and negative effects on specific plants and animals. Managers are increasingly sensitive to possible effects of fire on amphibians and reptiles…  More 

Taking America’s Rarest Snake Back to the Woods

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Louisiana pine snakes released on Kisatchie National Forest On May 1, USDA Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Memphis Zoo, and other partners released seven young Louisiana pine snakes on a restored longleaf pine stand in the Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana. The release is the fourth…  More 

The Santee Experimental Forest at 75

by Patty Matteson, Science Delivery Group  • 
On a cool spring day deep in the forest a short drive away from Charleston, South Carolina, more than 100 people showed up to celebrate 75 years of continual research at the  Forest Service Santee Experimental Forest (the Santee), one of 19 experimental forests maintained by the Southern Research Station (SRS). Established in 1937, the 6,100-acre…  More 

Cold Water for Trout

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Joint research by SRS and the U.S. Geological Survey The names of southern rivers—Roanoke, French Broad, Neuse, Apalachicola, Tar, Tennessee—are nothing if not evocative. As you read them, you may think first of the long human history of the area—or picture the lazy flow of summer water—but the rivers and streams of the southeastern United…  More 

Science Synthesis: Climate Change and Warmwater Species

by Zoe Hoyle, SRS Science Communications  • 
Warmwater animal species—including freshwater fish, snails, mussels, and crayfish—can be loosely defined as those that prefer fairly high temperatures.  Warmwater fish for example, have temperature preferences above about 77 degrees.  Still, there are upper limits to the temperatures even warmwater species can live with, beyond which physiological processes break down and susceptibility to disease increases. Climate…  More