Abstract
Abstract The distribution of Sylvilagus obscurus (Appalachian Cottontail) is disjunct and restricted to high-elevation refuges in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains. The purpose of this study was to determine survival and winter diet of this rabbit at its type locality, the Dolly Sods area of the Monongahela National Forest, WV. To estimate survival, 44 Appalachian Cottontail individuals were radio-tracked until death or loss of transmitter signal between October 1997 and June 2000. The Kaplan-Meier estimate was used to generate finite survival rates. To assess winter diet, stems browsed within a 1-m radius of winter radiolocations of 15 individuals in 1998–1999 and 1999–2000 were identified and counted. Species and groups of species browsed were compared to availability, determined by counting the number of woody stems within a 1-m radius of the same radiolocations. Overall daily survival rate was 0.9934, finite monthly (28-day) survival rate was 0.8309, and finite yearly survival rate was 0....
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