Nest and brood site selection of eastern wild turkeys

Abstract

ABSTRACTManagement of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forests relies on frequent prescribed fire to maintain desirable plant communities. Prescribed fire is often applied while female wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) are reproductively active and may immediately affect habitat availability and demographic outcomes. We identified covariates affecting selection of areas used by nesting and brooding females and determined if these covariates influenced nest and brood survival in a longleaf pine ecosystem. We captured 63 female wild turkeys and measured vegetation and landscape characteristics surrounding nests, brood roosts, and daytime use sites. We used conditional logistic regression to determine which vegetation and landscape‐scale characteristics influenced nest, brood roost, or daytime use sites. We generated Cox proportional hazard models at multiple spatial scales to determine if selection influenced nest and brood survival. Females selected nest sites with greater visual obstruction and increased ground cover, and also nested closer to roads. We observed relevant differences in vegetation and landscape variables associated with where females chose to roost broods compared to sites chosen for foraging or loafing. Females roosted broods at sites with increased ground cover and decreased visual obstruction, and daytime use by broods was most related to increases in ground cover. Time‐since‐fire was an informative covariate for brood site selection but not for nest site selection. Females selected brood roost sites in stands not recently burned (3–6 yr post‐fire), and selected daytime use sites in stands burned the current year (0 yr post‐fire) and 2 years post‐fire. We failed to observe links between selection of vegetation and landscape covariates and probability of nest or brood survival. Notably, our results suggest short (i.e., 1–2 yr) fire return intervals do not provide vegetation communities selected by females to roost broods. Conversely, stands burned within the current year were important for daytime use by broods. Collectively, our findings demonstrate the importance of maintaining diverse fire return intervals to ensure availability of vegetation conditions necessary for nesting and brooding. © 2018 The Wildlife Society.