SORICID RESPONSE TO FOREST STAND AGE IN SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN COVE HARDWOOD COMMUNITIES

Monthly from May 1994 until April 1995, we examined four age classes ( 15, 25, 50, and > 85 years old) of southern Appalachian cove hardwood stands in the Chattahoochee National Forest of Georgia to determine th e effects of even-aged forest management (clearcutting) on the relativ e abundance of shrews (Insectivora: Soricidae), Stands were sampled us ing drift-fence/pitfall trap methodologies. During 60 060 trapnights, the abundance of smoky shrews (Sorex fumeus Miller) and northern short -tailed shrews (Blarina brevicauda Say) were highest in the oldest sta nds sampled, while numbers of pygmy shrews (Sorer hoyi Baird) did not differ among stand ages. Soricid captures were poorly correlated with most micro-habitat variables measured in each stand. Differences in th e relative abundances of smoky shrews and northern short-railed shrews among stand ages may not be important to the conservation status of s hrews in the southern Appalachians. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.