Habitat associations of the red squirrel Sciurus vulgaris and grey squirrel S-carolinensis in Northern Ireland

A survey of red and grey squirrel habitat associations in Northern Ireland was conducted between September 1994 and August 1995. Two hundred and sixty -one sites were visited and a list of habitat characteristics for each site was noted. Multiple discriminant function analysis of the habitat type was employed to group squirrel occurrence, while contingency analysis examined independence of habitat type and squirrel species presence. Habitat associ ations differed between the two species. One-way ANOVAs of habitat data sug gested that sites occupied by red squirrels only were predominantly conifer ous, at higher altitude and latitude and much larger in area than sites occ upied by grey squirrels only, which were mostly deciduous. When both specie s were sympatric, sites were more likely to be coniferous and larger in are a than sites occupied by either species. Grey squirrels were less frequent than expected in upland plantations and more frequent than expected in park land and gardens; the opposite was true for red squirrels. The mean distanc e between sites with only red squirrels and the nearest site with grey squi rrels was greater than the mean distance between sites with only grey squir rels and the nearest site with red squirrels. An approach to conserving the red squirrel in view of the continued expansion in the grey squirrel's dis tribution in Ireland is discussed.