Spatial Ecology, Survival and Cause-Specific Mortality of Gray Foxes (Urocyon Cinereoargenteus) in a Longleaf Pine Ecosystem (Report‪)‬

INTRODUCTION In the southeastern United States, the historical longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) forests have largely been replaced by industrial agriculture and other anthropogenic habitats (Outcalt and Sheffield, 1996). In fact, longleaf pine forests have been reduced to only 3% of their former range (Ware et al., 1993). A diversity of species such as the flatwoods salamander (Ambystoma cingulatum), red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) and gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) have been negatively affected by the decline and fragmentation of longleaf pine forests (James et al., 2001). However, the impact of the conversion of this historic forest type on carnivores is not well understood.