142 

 were observed for the other three species that were compared. The plain chachalaca, a game species, 



was most frequently sighted in Combined/Early Secondary Forest (J = 5.2 sightings/ 10,000 km) and 

 least frequently sighted in Late Secondary Forest with Gardens (J = 0.6 sightings/10,000 km; Table 4- 

 1). This agreed with hunter reports that the plain chachalaca foraged, displayed, and nested in the 

 vicinity of gardens and roads, but rarely ventured into Late Secondary Forest. 



When game and nongame birds and mammals were compared, few clear patterns likewise 

 were noted. Among the four animal categories, significant differences in sighting frequencies between 

 successional stages were observed only for game birds (P = 0.0261; Table 4-1). The category game 

 birds, however, was composed primarily of plain chachalaca sightings (64 of 78 sightings). 



These findings suggested that at Ejido X-Hazil y Anexos the frequency with which birds and 

 mammals were sighted did not vary greatly between the three successional stages. This was unexpected 

 given the distribution of game kill sites in the four main vegetation types (see Appendix G), especially 

 in the vegetation type categorized as Plots & Gardens, and the comments of hunters that animals were 

 more noticeably abundant in some areas and less abundant in others. 



One possible explanation for an apparent lack of clear patterns of habitat use by wildlife of 

 different forest successional stages was the small sample size of sightings. Only 240 animals were 

 sighted; about 1 individual/km or 1 individual/h. A larger sample size likely would identify significant 

 differences in use of different successional forest stages by wildlife. 



Another possible explanation for an apparent lack of clear habitat use patterns by wildlife was 

 the mobility of the animals, location of the 12 census transects (see Figure 4-1), and high degree of 

 interspersion of the various vegetation types (see Figure 2-4). Although four transects were located in 

 Late Secondary Forest without Gardens, they may have been located too close to other vegetation types 

 to differentiate clearly any habitat use differences by wildlife. While it may have been desirable to 

 have located the Late Secondary Forest without Gardens transects further to the east of Route 307, the 

 distribution of roads and trails in the forest and the transition from medium- to low-height forest and 

 savannah may have introduced other complications. 



