Date of Graduation

Spring 2026

Degree

Master of Science in Biology

Department

Biology

Committee Chair

Sean Maher

Abstract

Species occupancy, which relates the probability of presence of a species at a specific place and time, is an important component of conservation and wildlife management. Principally it is used for estimation of a species’ distribution as well as understanding species interactions and quantifying environmental effects. The purpose of this study was to analyze occupancy of the Eastern Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger) across multiple seasons (2019–2022) at Bull Shoals Field Station (BSFS), and to identify potential covariates associated with detection and colonization. Data were drawn from camera trap surveys from 26 sites during summer and fall seasons. Multi-season occupancy models were fit using R and the unmarked package. Detection and colonization covariates were selected based on hypotheses regarding the influence of habitat variables, with those included in the final model determined by lowest Akaike information criterion (AICc). Detection was associated with the collinear variables of weekly average maximum temperature (°C; β = 0.11, SE ± 0.039, P = 0.005), ordinal day (β = -0.0189, SE ± 0.0056, z = -3.38, P = 0.0007), and weekly average minimum temperature (°C; β = 0.11, SE ± 0.0403, z = 2.73, P = 0.006). Colonization increased with tree height (m; β = 0.451, SE ± 0.164, z =, P = 0.006), and extinction declined with with DBH (cm; β = -0.541, SE ± 0.367, z = -1.48, P = 0.140). These results indicate that Eastern Fox Squirrels tend to be detected during warmer months with colonization occurring in areas with tall trees. These results will add to research aiding inventory and monitoring of Eastern Fox Squirrels within BSFS.

Keywords

Eastern Fox Squirrel, woodlands, occupancy, colonization, extinction

Subject Categories

Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

Copyright

© Daniel Garten

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