Trends in land-cover changes in southwestern New York show that, in general, the amount of forest land is increasing, while the amount of cultivated agricultural land is decreasing. Over the long-term, this trend may lead toward a decline in numbers of wild turkeys in this part of New York. Email me if you have questions. I studied white-tailed deer in the central Adirondack region. Previous research has shown that deer exhibit strong site fidelity and that deer social organization is comprised of social groups of related females.
Some social groups have many more members and higher recruitment than others.
I hypothesized that this variation is a response to differences in habitat quality on summer range. Small-scale disturbances such as logging may influence deer at the social group. The localized response exhibited by social groups has implications toward the impact of habitat alteration on wildlife. Specifically while Dr. Lawrence was here at ESF, he investigated the effects of spatial deer distributions and habitat use on forest regeneration. An Assessment of Wildlife Habitat Characteristics in Adirondack Selection System Stands My project involved an assessment of the impacts of uneven-aged silviculture on wildlife habitat.