HAYSMITH: NEOTOMA F. FLORDANA IN NORTH-CENTRAL FLORIDA


 1 = Ashley Lake
 2 = Goose Lake
 3 = Ross Lake
 MH = mesic hardwood hammock 4 = Mill Creek Swamp
 MHP = mesic hammock saw palmetto 5 = Suggs Lake
 BSW = bottomland hardwood swamp
 = Distribution of Neotoma on the Ordway
 Black = mesic hardwood forests

Figure 1. Mesic forests, study areas, and distribution ofNeotomaf.floridana on the Ordway Preserve.




mesic hardwood forests with open understory (Suggs and Ashley lakes) are narrow
belts of mesic forest on the perimeter of the black water lakes which are 50-200 m
in width and are bounded by the lake, a road, and old fields, resulting in
fragmented habitats.
 Throughout the last decade other mammalian surveys (over 10,000 trap
nights) have been conducted in various habitats on the Preserve. The results of
these surveys indicated that woodrats were primarily distributed in mesic forests. I
selected my five study sites based on previous records of woodrats at these sites.
 Vegetation measurements were collected using the point-center-quarter
method (Hays et al. 1981; Ludwig and Reynolds 1988). Because of the linear
nature of the habitats, two randomly located transects were established at 900
angles in each study site, which were parallel and perpendicular to the lakes. A
vegetation station, which was divided into four quarters, was established every
50 m.
 Woodrats were captured in squirrel size Tomahawk traps (61 x 17 x 17 cm)
baited with a mixture of peanut butter and oatmeal. Standard biological
measurements were taken which included: weight, head and body length, tail