Ocala National Forest Research Articles

Two new species of Mallomonas (Synurophyceae) from the Ocala National Forest, Florida, U.S.A.

Two new species of Mallomonas, M. ocalensis and M. caerula, are described from a clearwater, acidic and oligotrophic waterbody in the Ocala National Forest, Florida, U.S.A. Mallomonas ocalensis, in the Series Doignonianae of the Section Torquatae, consists of relatively small cells with scales that have a series of parallel shield ribs with alternating thicknesses, collar scales with very short bristles and posterior scales with small protruding spines. Mallomonas ocalensis is most similar to Mallomonas dickii, but is distinguished from the latter species based on the highly variable thicknesses of the shield ribs and significantly larger scales. Mallomonas caerula, in the Series Mallomonas of the Section Mallomonas, consists of relatively large cells that bear large domed and dorneless scales, and long, robust and ribbed bristles. Bristles with and without helmets can be found. The shield, especially the distal portion, and the posterior flange of scales consists of series of more or less parallel ribs. Mallomonas caerula appears to be most closely related to Mallomonas acaroides var. acaroides and Mallomonas acaroides var. muskokana, but can be distinguished from the latter taxa on the basis of scale type, scale structure and bristle morphology. Both new species were found in the plankton and surface sediments of Blue Sink Pond.

Mesocosm Experiments on Habitat Choice by an Endemic Lizard: Implications for Timber Management

We investigated the impacts of various logging practices on habitat choice by the endemic Florida scrub lizard (Sceloporus woodi) in the Florida scrub of Ocala National Forest (ONF). We used large outdoor mesocosms as a novel means to evaluate lizard preferences for habitats with different structural features produced by standard forestry practices. Captive lizards were offered a choice between two adjoin- ing habitats (= sides of a mesocosm) created using one of two substratum treatments (SAND = 75% open sand; WOOD = 75% coarse woody debris (CWD)) coupled with one of two insolation treatments (LIGHT = ambient sunlight; DARK = 45% ambient sunlight). The mesocosms proved to be an effective technique for evaluating lizard habitat preferences. Lizards were easily observed and remained active and healthy throughout the experiment Sighting frequencies differed significantly among the four mesocosm sides, yielding an overall preference ranking of DARK SAND > LIGHT SAND > DARK WOOD - LIGHT WOOD. Analysis of sighting frequencies by treatment factors (substratum and insolation) and of dissimilarity ma- trices both indicated that habitat choice was based primarily on substratum composition and only weakly determined by insolation level. In addition, size- and gender-specific preferences suggest that social inter- actions may help shape patterns of habitat used in conjunction with individual preferences. We conclude that the least favored mesocosm side (LIGHT WOOD) represents a habitat type that could potentially serve as a population sink for scrub lizards and recommend several methods to reduce the accumulation of CWD or to ameliorate its potential thermal stress on lizards. In addition, the most favored mesocosm side (DARK SAND) represents a shaded sandy habitat type not currently found in ONF timber stands. We present several alternative harvesting and site preparation methods that could produce such habitats and recommend further research on their potential value for enhancing populations of scrub lizards and other open-habitat scrub

Scaled Chrysophyceae and Synurophyceae from Florida, U.S.A.: VI. Observations on the flora from waterbodies in the Ocala National Forest

Thirty-two taxa of silica-scaled Chrysophyceae and Synurophyceae are reported from waterbodies in the Ocala National Forest, Florida, U.S.A. Many of the lakes in the Ocala area are poorly buffered and low in both pH and specific conductivity. The organisms observed were clearly differentially distributed over a pH gradient, with the majority of species being typical of acidic localities. Sixteen of the organisms were observed only in waterbodies with a pH below 5.5. Mallomonas wujekii, a species known to date only from this region, was one of the more common organisms found in half ofthe collections. Even though the localities are located in the subtropics, the flora had clear affinities to more northern regions of both North America and Europe, especially from acidic localities. In contrast, the flora had few similarities with those previously described from subtropical and tropical regions, including ones from Florida. This survey represents the first report of Mallomonas duerrschmidtiae and M. acaroides var. muskokana from the subtropics. The potential use of scaled chrysophytes in future paleolimnological studies of the Ocala region are discussed.

Morphological observations of Synurophycean algae from some acidic habitats, including the description of a sub‐specific taxon

Morphological observations of the siliceous cell coverings of five taxa of Synurophyceae are made based on specimens collected from acidic, seepage lakes situated in either the Ocala National Forest, Florida, U.S.A. or the Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts, U.S.A. All but one of the lakes, Lake Dorr, were clearwater in nature. A new taxon, Mallomonas corymbosa var. poseidonii var. nov., is described based on differences in bristle structure. New morphological features of four additional taxa, Synura echìnulata, Mallomonas mangofera f. foveata, M. acaroides var. muskokana, and M. duerrschmidtiae are presented and discussed in relation to their existing taxonomic descriptions. Other taxa of Synurophyceae, Dinobryon spp., Aulacoseira spp., Asterionella ralfsii, and dinofiagellates were common constituents of the phytoplankton from the seven study lakes at the times of collection.

Two new species of Eimeria Schneider, 1875 (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from skinks in Florida

Eimeria egregia n. sp. parasitises the gall-bladder of Eumeces egregius onocrepis, the brown red-tailed skink, in the Ocala National Forest, Marion County, Florida. Oocysts are oval, 27.6 × 17.4 µm (25–32 × 16–20), without micropyle, polar body or oocyst residuum. The oocyst length/width ratio is 1.59 (1.42–1.76). Sporocysts are ovoid, 10.3 × 8.3 µm (8.5–12 × 7–9 µm), with a length/width ratio of 1.24 (1.06–1.50,), without a Stieda body, but with a prominent sporocyst residuum. Sporozoites are 10–12 × 2.5–3 µm. The ground skink Scincella lateralis is infected by Eimeria scincellae n. sp. The oocysts are cylindrical, 29.8 × 15.9 µm (28–33 × 14–17), with no micropyle, polar body or oocyst residuum. The oocyst length/width ratio is 1.89 (1.68–2.14). Sporocysts are oval, 10.9 × 8.0 µm (9.5–12 × 7–9), with a length/width ratio of 1.36 (1.18–1.64,), no Stieda body and a prominent sporocyst residuum. Sporozoites are 9–11 × 2–2.5 µm.

Space

SPACE/Jesse Lee Kercheval July 1969 WHEN I WAS growing up, I lived next door to Cape Kennedy, in Cocoa, Florida, a town built for tired aerospace engineers to spend quiet nights with their families. In Cocoa, the race for the moon was everything. Where most papers ran the local weather, ours featured details of the next space shot. And the recipes in the food section were always for things like Astronaut Fruitcake—identical to the ones the astronauts eat in space; has energy power aplentyfor us earthlings!!! But when Apollo 11 blasted off for the moon with Neil Armstrong on board, I was 150 miles away at Turtle Lake Girl Scout Camp in the middle of the Ocala National Forest. In fact, I was practicing a water ballet to the "Theme from Love Story" blaring from a portable record player over the lake through a set of loudspeakers mainly used for ordering campers out of the water in the case of a thunderstorm. I was twelve and in Aquatics, the unit at the camp that did the most swimming and boating. Even for us, though, water ballet was a bit of a stretch. This was the brainstorm of my tent-mate Celia, who had seen water ballet on TV during the Mexico City Olympics. Celia had just moved to Florida from California and was full of ideas. Water ballet was not turning out to be one of her best ones. For one thing, the dark water of Turtle Lake, stained brown with tannin from the pine and cypress trees, made it impossible to see any fancy tricks done underwater. This limited our choreography to waving our hands and feet rhythmically in the air while we swam, but Celia had conned me and our other tent-mate Andrea, who we called Andy, into participating anyway. Celia was a born leader. We had just started the opening of our routine, the part where we swam in a circle doing the crawl while rhythmically dipping our hands in the water to the words, "How do I begin"—dip, breathe, kick— "to tell the story"—dip, breathe, kick—"of how great a love can be?"—double dip, breathe, flip onto back. Just as I was rolling over to start my backstroke, I noticed the water was full of tiny ripples, as if Turtle Lake were a glass in some nervous drinker's hand. On the shore, Happy, our counselor (named by the camp director after one of Snow White's dwarfs), lifted the tone arm from the record, and in place of the distorted music, I heard a familiar low rumble. Only a Saturn V rocket The Missouri Review · 44 sounded like that. Apollo 11 was go. There were Americans on their way to walk on the moon. Hoating on my back, I shaded my eyes and looked up, expecting to see the white trail as the rocket headed downrange, but the sky was empty. We were too far north to see the launch, even though we could hear it. I stood up in the shoulder-deep water. Andy stood, too. I could hear cheers from the softball field, where most of the campers had gone after breakfast to watch the counselors play against a team from the YWCA camp, but I couldn't tell if they were cheering the launch or some spectacular slide into home. Celia, busy counting her strokes, bumped into me. "Hey, Doc," she said, calling me by the nickname she'd given me, based, she said, on how much I knew and not on the Disney dwarf of the same name. She stood, too. "Hey," she said, taking plugs out of her ears. "What happened to the music?" I started to tell her, but at the same moment Happy dropped the tone arm on the record player, starting the music again with an awful sliding scratch that drowned me out. After we finished our practice, Celia, Andy, and I sat on the floating dock, drying off. Even at ten in the morning, the sun was fiercely hot. I spent the whole summer burning, peeling and burning again, too fair, really, to live under the Florida sun. No amount...

Effects of Forest Management Practices on Terrestrial Coleopteran Assemblages in Sand Pine Scrub

Coleopteran assemblages were sampled monthly for one year using pitfall traps in replicated sites of three 5- to 7-year-old disturbance treatments and mature forested sand pine scrub in the Ocala National Forest, Marion County, Florida. Disturbance treatments were (1) burning at high-intensity and salvage-logging; (2) clearcutting, roller-chopping and broadcast seeding, and; (3) clearcutting and bracke-seeding. Community similarity of coleopterans was high. No differences in species richness, diversity, density, or evenness were detected. Of 40 species captured, only seven were common (n > 50). Predaceous beetles were numerically dominant followed by scavengers. Few xylophagous or herbivorous coleopterans were captured, probably due to trap bias. Peaks of annual above-ground terrestrial activity varied among species. An absence of differences among treatments may reflect similar plant communities or structural habitat features. Additionally, a dearth of mature forest specialists might be predicted in systems where mature forest was historically rare due to large-scale, high-intensity, and low-frequency wildfire.

Home Range, Habitat Use, and Mortality of Black Bears in North-Central Florida

Home Range, Habitat Use, and Mortality of Black Bears in North-Central Florida

Oak Dome Clonal Structure and Fire Ecology in a Florida Longleaf Pine Dominated Community

GUERIN, DENISE N. (Botany Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 3261 1). Oak dome clonal structure and fire ecology in a Florida longleaf pine dominated community. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 120: 107-114. 1993.-The structure, development, and response to fire of sand-live oak (Quercus geminata Small) and myrtle oak (Q. myrtifolia Willd.) colonies (domes) were examined in a longleaf pine-wiregrass (Pinus palustris Mill.-Aristida stricta Michaux.) community in Ocala National Forest, Florida. Dome areas ranged from 30 m2 to 1000 m2 and domes achieved heights of up to 10 m. The oak clumps excavated ( 2 m tall with basal diameters >2.0 cm. Stems averaging >2 m tall in domes >200 m2 in area survived better than those in smaller domes. Oak domes 2 m tall having a high probability of above-ground stem survival and domes >4.5 m tall being nearly fire resistant. Height is positively correlated with dome age and therefore to the period of time needed without fire for tall dome (>4.5 m tall) development. Tall domes present within the pinelands are probably a direct result of approximately 20 years of fire suppression prior to the initiation of regular prescribed burning in the 1950's. Seedling establishment was apparently low in years when fire occurred and the year after but increased in the second, third, and fourth years following burning. Dome distribution, abundance, and height are thus dependent on fire frequency, intensity, and land-use history.

Diatom paleolimnological evidence for lake acidification in the Trail Ridge region of Florida

As part of the PIRLA projects, diatom-pH transfer equations were used to infer past lakewater chemistries from dated sediment cores. Diatom inferred lakewater acidification appeared to show a strong subregional pattern within Florida. Five lakes were examined from in or near the Trail Ridge region (in the north-central peninsula) and all showed some evidence of recent acidification (>.20 pH units decrease) probably related to acidic deposition. Lakes hi the Panhandle region and the Ocala National Forest (south of Gainesville) did not show evidence of recent anthropogenic acidification, although few acidic clearwater lakes hi the Panhandle were examined. Paleolimnological studies have provided strong evidence for acidification due to acidic deposition in a small subset of lakes from various regions of the United States. This subset is defined geographically by different acidic deposition rates and bedrock types, and by the many limnological factors that contribute to lake pH and buffering capacity. Unfortunately, it is also defined by the small numbers of lakes that have so far been studied.

Factors affecting wiregrass ( Aristida stricta Michx.) cover on uncut and site prepared sandhills areas in Central Florida

Because wiregrass ( Aristida stricta Michx.) is a critical component of the longleaf pine ( Pinus palustris Mill.) community of the southeastern Coastal Plain, USA, providing the fuel for recurring surface fires, we need restoration techniques which favor or at least maintain it. The study objective was to investigate what factors influence wiregrass cover in mature longleaf stands and in areas recently site prepared for re-establishment of longleaf pine. All sandhills sites which had been given hexazinone during site preparation for reforestation to longleaf pine in the past 5 years in the Ocala National Forest, Florida, USA, were sampled during the late summer and autumn of 1990. Regression analyses showed wiregrass cover was greater on areas treated to reduce oak cover with the herbicide hexazinone when dry conditions prevailed the month following application. Moisture had the reverse effect on sites chopped to reduce scrub oaks, with wiregrass cover decreasing with drier conditions. Thus, to reduce wiregrass mortality hexazinone should be applied during dry periods while conversely chopping should be done when soil moisture is high.

Records for the Rosemary Grasshopper, Schistocerca ceratiola Hubbell and Walker, in North Florida (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

Hubbell & Walker (1928) described the rosemary grasshopper, Schistocerca ceratiola, based on collections from Orlando (TYPE LOCALITY) and Apopka in Orange County, Altamonte Springs in Seminole County, and Tavares in Lake County. Their specimens were found in association with rosemary bushes, Ceratiola ericoides, growing in scrub habitats. Dirsh (1974) provided a distribution map that called attention to additional records from Hernando, Marion, Polk, Putnam, and Volusia counties. The northernmost records shown on this map included two sites near Palatka along the St. John River in Putnam County and two sites near Ocala in Marion County. On 1 September 1983, Robert E. Woodruff and one of us (RF) obtained a large series of this grasshopper on rosemary bushes at the Breezeway Pond site in the Smith Lake Sand Hill area of the Katharine Ordway Preserve-Swisher Memorial Sanctuary, near Melrose, Putnam County, Florida. Grasshoppers were found in association with an Evergreen Shrub habitat, characterized by rosemary, Myrica cerifera, Lyonia lucida, Ilex glabra, and Vaccinium arboreum. This peculiar habitat forms narrow bands around the Breezeway Pond and other temporary and permanent clear water ponds and lakes on the property. Voucher specimens from this infestation are deposited in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA), Gainesville, Florida. Subsequent searches for these grasshoppers on rosemary bushes at the Preserve, near Johnson in Putnam County, and in the vicinity of Gold Head Branch State Park and Keystone Heights in southwestern Clay County (approximately 14 km N of the Preserve) in 1984 showed this distinctive grasshopper to be extremely common on southern Trail Ridge and the adjoining, but more southerly, Interlachen Karstic Highland in the northeentral portion of the Florida peninsula. Although these records only extend the known range of S. ceratiola about 35 km NW of the Palatka and 80 km NNE of the Ocala collections, they place this unusual grasshopper on the geologically unique Trail Ridge. This feature, developed as a series of N-S trending sand ridges that parallel the western shore of the St. Johns River, extends southward from southeastern Georgia and merges with the xeric Interlachen Karstic Highland near the town of Interlachen. These droughty ridges are forested with upland communities dominated by High Pine habitats and are isolated from reported sites near Palatka and Ocala by wetter flatwoods habitats that lack rosemary plants. Between 1985-1986, we located additional sites (see SPECIFIC RECORDS) for this grasshopper in Lake, Marion, and Orange counties. Efforts to collect grasshoppers at appropriate sites in Bay, Franklin, and Gulf counties were unsuccessful. We revisited rosemary sites examined by Hubbell and Walker in Alachua (near Archer) and Levy (Cedar Keys) counties and, like them, failed to locate specimens. We found S. ceratiola only in associaion with rosemary bushes. At Gold Head Branch State Park in Clay County and sites in Putnam County, grasshoppers occurred in areas of High Pine (or Sandhill) vegetation while those from the Ocala National Forest in Lake County, and from Rock Springs and Mt. Plymouth in Orange County were at sites dominated by Sand Pine Scrub.

Donnellia (Sematophyllaceae) Resurrected and Refound in Florida after 110 Years

Donnellia Aust. is synonymous with, but antedates and thus replaces, Meiotheciopsis Broth. The appropriate combinations are made. Donnellia commutata is reported from the Ocala National Forest in Florida and is the first United States collection since John Donnell Smith discovered it in 1877.

RESIDUES OF LINDANE AND CHLORPYRIFOS IN FIREWOOD AND WOODSMOKE

Pine bark beetle insecticide treatment plots were established on the Ocala National Forest, in central Florida. Each plot consisted of five sand pine, Pinus clausa (Chapm. Ex. Engelm) Vassey ex. Sarg., trees treated with either 0.5% lindane (benzene hexachloride) or 2% chlorpyrifos (0,0-diethyl 0-(3,5,6-trichloro-2-pgridyl) phosphorothioate). After 4 months, mean residue levels ranged from 0.32 to 35.8 mg/kg for lindane and < 0.1 to 76.1 mg/kg for chlorpyrifos. Chlorpyrifos was more persistent in wood than lindane. In a separate laboratory study, lindane or chlorpyrifos were applied to powdered wood and then burned under controlled conditions to determine carryover in combustion products. With slow heating to 500°C (20°C/min.), 42.7% of the lindane and 28.3% of the chlorpyrifos were recovered in the smoke stream. With rapid combustion at 600°C, all lindane and chlorpyrifos residues were thermally degraded. These findings were related to the risk of burning insecticide treated wood as firewood inside houses. Even under the worst case slow burning conditions, human exposure to airborne residues would be well under “safe-sided” threshold limit values and less than 0.2% of the acceptable daily intake established by the World Health Organization.

Three Foliicolous Lichens New to the United States

Arthonia palmulacea, Calenia aspidotum, and Sporopodium phyllocharis are re- ported new to the United States, all in Florida. The presence of Lopadium fuscum in the United States is confirmed. Santesson (1952), in his monograph of the obli- gately foliicolous lichens of the world, recorded eleven species from the continental United States. Serusiaux (1976, 1979, 1984) added another nine species. An additional four species were reported by Tucker (1979) and Tucker and Harris (1980). Prior to the American Bryological and Lichen- ological Society meeting in Florida in August 1985, the annual foray visited three areas: a sand pine scrub forest just east of the Oklawaha River along State Highway 316; a hardwood swamp forest ad- jacent to Juniper Springs Recreation Area in the Ocala National Forest; and a subtropical hardwood swamp forest along the Orange Blossom Trail in Highlands Hammock State Park. The first area had a very poorly developed foliicolous lichen flora but the other two sites had several species present, some abundantly. The following species, collected on the ABLS for- ay, are reported as new to the southeastern United States. Voucher specimens have been deposited in the University of Florida Herbarium, Gainesville.

The Longleaf Pine Islands of the Ocala National Forest, Florida: A Soil Study

Longleaf pine—wiregrass—turkey oak (Pinus palustris—Aristida stricta—Quercus laevis) occurs as isolated islands, 60—4000 ha in area, in a matrix of sand pine—scrub (Pinus clausa—Quercus spp.) on deep sands of the Ocala National Forest, Florida. Striking contrasts in physiognomy and species composition, and sharp, stable boundaries suggested that soil differences determined vegetation boundaries. Examination of soils to a 500 cm depth at 130 locations revealed no consistent differences in profile morphology, particle size distribution, or extractable nutrients. Thus the hypothesis that soil differences were responsible for the distribution of the two communities was not sustained. Organic matter and nitrogen contents of surface (0—60 cm) soils likewise did not differ between plant communities. Differences in surface horizon color were ascribed to differences in soil—forming processes: frequent additions of fine charcoal and active faunal mixing under longleaf pine vs eluviation under sand pine. Biogenic opal extracted from surface soils at 75 locations failed to provide evidence of long—term community stability. Isolines of total opal mass were concentrically patterned around longleaf islands, but opal mass and morphology did not consistently differ across vegetation boundaries.

Deer Habitat on the Ocala National Forest: Improvement Through Forest Management

Abstract Because of a presumed decline in the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) herd on the Ocala National Forest in central Florida, mast and available forage were assessed in the forest's two major habitats: sand pine-scrub oak (SP-SO) and longleaf pine-turkey oak (LLP-TO). Deer food was most abundant in young stands of SP-SO and LLP-TO and least abundant in 25- to 40-year-old stands of SP-SO and mature stands of turkey oak. Phosphorus was much lower in simulated diets from all SP-SO stands than the dietary requirement thought necessary for adult deer, perhaps partially accounting for the low reproductive rate on the forest. Availability of deer food can be increased in SP-SO habitat by thinning closed-canopy stands more than 30 years old and, in LLP-TO habitat, by prescribed burning of longleaf pine stands at least once every three years and by removing low-mast producers from mature stands of turkey oak.

Southern Bald Eagle Productivity and Nest Site Selection

Productivity and nesting habitat of the southern bald eagle (Haliaeetus 1. leucocephalus) in north-central Florida were analyzed. The productivity of 109 active nests over a 4-year period (1973-76) was 1.14 young/nest, and for 78 successful nests was 1.59 young/nest. Thirty-four sites examined in 1976 were within 3 km of water and were preferentially located in flatwoods and hardwood swamps. Most nests were in dominant pines, and nest trees tended to be located along ecotones. No correlation (P > 0.05) was obtained when production of young was regressed on distance from water or distance between nearest neighbors. Production was independent of habitat within 0.5 km of 61 nests studied during the 1976 nesting season. Production of young was independent of habitat alteration and road use at distances of 0.0-0.5, 0.5-1.0, and 1.0-1.5 km from active nests. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 43(3):585-594 Although bald eagles formerly ranged throughout North America, stable populations are presently found only in Alaska, Florida, Wisconsin, and probably Minnesota and the central Canadian provinces (Sprunt et al. 1973). The greatest number of breeding bald eagles in the contiguous United States occurs in Florida with concentrations in Everglades National Park and the Ocala National Forest vicinity (Sprunt et al. 1973). Populations in other parts of Florida have declined (Howell 1968). Causes of bald eagle population declines include pesticides, chiefly the chlorinated hydrocarbons, and habitat loss (Sprunt 1969). Since 1972, use of DDT has been banned giving rise to optimism that improvement in production of young may occur. Increasing human population and suburban sprawl have greatly reduced bald eagle habitat in recent decades either directly by destruction of nesting trees or indirectly by disturbance in the vicinity of nesting trees (Sprunt and Ligas 1966). Because of increased mobility of Florida residents and tourists, areas that were once remote are now regularly visited by people in boats and motor campers. Nesting habitat of this fish-eating raptor is also being infringed upon by increasing numbers of waterfront cottages (Sprunt 1969). Knowledge of specific habitat requirements of bald eagles has become important in formulating effective management strategies, particularly since pesticides may cease to be an important limiting factor. The objectives of this study were to determine productivity of bald eagles in north-central Florida and to relate productivity to selection of nesting habitat. Financial support was provided by the School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida; the National Wildlife Federation; and the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission. We thank R. R. Roth, U.S. Forest Service and S. A. Nesbitt for their cooperation and encouragement. L. D. Harris and J. A. Cornell provided statistical advice. We are also grateful to D. W. Johnston, W. R. Marion, S. Postupalsky, and I Contribution 1565 of the Journal Series, Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, Gainesville, FL 32611. 2 Present address: U.S. Forest Service, San Bernardino National Forest, Big Bear City, CA 92314. J. Wildl. Manage. 43(3):1979 585 This content downloaded on Wed, 12 Dec 2012 21:25:34 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 586 BALD EAGLE NESTING IN FLORIDA -McEwan and Hirth Goinesville 0 NEWNANS Putnam

Reproductive Ecology of the Florida Scrub Lizard, Sceloporus woodi

Reproduction and growth of Sceloporus woodi in the Ocala National Forest, Florida, were studied. Females become sexually mature in their second warm season at 47 mm snout-vent length. Large females begin vitellogenesis in late February and deposit eggs by mid-April. Egg deposition continues thru August. Average clutch size is about four eggs. There are multiple clutches; and the first is larger than the second. Clutch weight averages 19% of total body weight. Hatchlings appear from late June-early November and grow to adult size in 10-11 months. However, yearling females contribute less than half of the replacement rate of the population. Population density is higher and frequency of regenerated tails is lower than in Texas undulatus studied by Tinkle and Ballinger. Since clutch size in woodi is smaller, both in number of eggs and % of female body weight, woodi appears less r-selected than Texas undulatus.

Copulatory behavior of old-field mice (Peromyscus polionotus) from different natural populations

In an effort to study a biologically important behavioral pattern in different naturally occurring populations of the same species, the copulatory behavior ofPeromyscus polionotus from South Carolina and from Santa Rosa Island, Florida, was compared with that ofP. polionotus from the Ocala National Forest, Florida. Twelve male and 16 female South Carolina mice received 71 tests, and five male and three female Santa Rosa mice received 18 tests. The basic pattern was identical across all three samples, being characterized by no lock, no intravaginal thrusting, multiple intromissions, and multiple ejaculations. Prolonged intromissions followed organized ejaculatory series. Quantitative differences among samples were found for several measures. Intromission Frequency appears particularly susceptible to local variation. Between-population differences in copulatory behavior appear to be of a quantitative rather than a qualitative nature.