Mammals of Carolina Bays 29 



Advanced Stages. — Evergreen and deciduous bay forests. 



Characteristic: Sorex longirostris, Blarina sp., Sciurus carolinensis, 



Peromyscus gossypinus, Ochrotomys nuttalli, Urocyon cinereoar- 



genteus, Ursus americanus, Procyon lotor. 

 Occasional: Sylvilagus palustris, Lynx rufus, Mustela vison, Pleco- 



tus rafinesquii, Didelphis virginiana. 



We have not adequately surveyed white cedar forests and savannas. 

 Our limited information (Table 1), however, suggests low diversity and 

 density in white cedar forests and variable or highly fluctuating densities 

 in savannas. In the cedar forests, most mammal activity seems to be 

 restricted to edges (we also found this to be true of breeding birds). In 

 savannas, periodic flooding and fire limit populations, but the quick 

 response of grasses and other herbaceous plants after burning provides 

 excellent cover and food, and denuded areas are probably repopulated 

 quickly. 



Factors Affecting Density and Diversity 



Natural ecotones, openings, and edges caused by land-use practic- 

 es, were far more productive for mammal trapping and observing 

 mammal signs than were the interiors of pocosins. This can be attri- 

 buted to generally good cover in these areas, a richer diversity of food 

 plants, and a slight relief in topography that provides temporary refuge 

 from seasonal flooding. In grass and sedge stages we found high mam- 

 mal densities, and in several instances had over 50 percent trapping suc- 

 cess. Semi-flooded Juncus areas produced some interesting results. 

 Early in our studies of one such site we found Microtus (60% of total 

 catch), Reithrodontomys (23%), and Oryzomys (8%) to be the dominant 

 mammals. In following years, however, as the community matured and 

 grasses dominated the vegetation, Oryzomys (50%) and Sigmodon 

 (33%) became the more abundant species. Artificially maintained sys- 

 tems (mowed, grazed and drained, etc.) created habitats in which species 

 not typical of pocosins, such as Scalopus, Sylvilagus floridanus, Mus, 

 and Vulpes, appeared and often became numerous. 



Although small mammals of many types quickly colonize early 

 (open canopy) successional stages (Rose 1981a, and this study), the 

 limited plant diversity probably does not provide a year-round food 

 base in the intermediate (i.e., pocosin) successional stages adequate to 

 attract or support small mammals. Thus, except for ecotones and natu- 

 ral or man-made openings, typical pocosin communities support very 

 low densities of mammals, and at any single site usually a low diversity 

 of species as well (see above lists of early and intermediate successional 

 species). In contrast, efforts were made to sample the interiors of poco- 

 sins and bays. The interior of these dense communities where the canopy 



