Joshua Laerm, C. H. Wharton, and W. M. Ford 



on here. One (male; 124, 63, 15) was collected under a boulder on 

 5 February 1994 adjacent to Turtle Pond Road, 0.4 km east of Turtle 

 Pond Creek, 0.5 km west of US Highway 64. Rock outcrops dominate 

 this north facing slope at an elevation of 1,050 m about 50 m above 

 Turtle Pond Creek. The vegetational community consisted of hemlock 

 (Tsuga canadensis), white pine (Pinus strobus), and red maple with 

 a rosebay rhododendron understory. Two additional specimens (both 

 males; 120, 65, 16 and 124, 65, 16 mm) were taken on the same 

 date, approximately 3 km distance southwest at Turtle Pond Road, 

 1.4 km north of NC Highway 106. This community was markedly 

 more xeric, dominated by a white oak (Q. alba), chestnut oak, and 

 hemlock overstory with mountain laurel {Kalmia latifolia) and blueberry 

 (Vaccinium spp.) shrub layer. The site, approximately 100 m above 

 Turtle Pond Creek at an elevation of 1,120 m, was not markedly rocky, 

 and the shrew was taken in a pitfall trap set along a fallen tree. At 

 both of these localities S. dispar was taken in association with B. 

 brevicauda, S. cinereus, S. fumeus and C. gapperi. Specimens were 

 reposited in the University of Georgia Museum of Natural History. 



Sorex dispar is endemic to the Appalachian Mountains and is 

 distributed from New Brunswick south. Regionally it is reported from 

 Maryland (Paradiso 1969, North Carolina State Museum records; S. 

 D. Lee, personal communication), Virginia (Handley 1956, 1979, 1991; 

 Holloway 1957; Pagels and Tate 1976; Pagels 1987, 1991; Kaldo and 

 Handley 1993), Kentucky (Caldwell 1980, Caldwell and Bryan 1982, 

 Bryan 1991), Tennessee (Conaway and Pfitzer 1952, Tuttle 1968, Linzey 

 and Linzey 1971, Smith et al. 1974, Kennedy and Harvey 1980, Harvey 

 et al. 1992), North Carolina (Schwartz 1956, Lee et al. 1982, Webster 

 1987), and now Georgia. 



Once regarded as very rare in the central and southern Appalachian, 

 S. dispar is now believed to be more widely distributed and occurs 

 in a broader range of habitats than previously supposed (Kirkland et 

 al. 1976; Kirkland and Van Deusen 1979; Kirkland et al. 1979; Kennedy 

 and Harvey 1980; Handley 1979, 1991; Pagels 1987; Kalko and Handley 

 1993). Although no population estimates are available, published records, 

 available museum specimens, and trapping records suggest that it is 

 uncommon to rare throughout most of its range in the extreme southern 

 Appalachians, but that it may be locally abundant in the central Appala- 

 chians. For example, over a 15-year period at Mountain lake, Giles 

 County, Virginia, Kalko and Handley (1993) report S. dispar to comprise 

 10% of the total number of long-tailed shrews recovered and indicate 

 it is common in its preferred habitat (Handley 1979, 1991; C. O. Handley, 

 personal communication). Similarly, Pagels (1987) notes it to be more 



