9610219 Templeton Is landscape management a more effective and efficient approach to the conservation of endangered species and habitats than strategies which focus solely on the species or habitats themselves? Few studies have actually documented the impact of landscape management upon endangered or threatened species. Dr. Alan Templeton, of Washington University, proposes to study the impact of fire management at the landscape level on the state-threatened species, the eastern collared lizard (Crotaphytus collaris). The eastern collared lizard is found on Ozark glades-barren rocky outcrops that represent a desert or dry prairie-like microhabitat. The suppression of forest fires in the Ozarks has allowed trees to invade and shade over the glades, resulting in the local extinction of collared lizards and other species unique to the glade habitats. Past work by Dr. Templeton and others has shown that collared lizards could thrive when translocated into glades restored by clearing and burning, but a restored glade was never colonized spontaneously by the lizards even when nearby source populations were available. How did collared lizards get to glades in the first place? The answer may lie in one recent and drastic change in the Ozarks-active suppression of fire. Historically, fires not only maintained the glade habitat, but also maintained an open woodland habitat. With the recent suppression of fires, the forest now has a thick understory that may inhibit dispersal of collared lizards. By burning the entire landscape (forests and glades), it may be possible to restore both glade habitats and the ability of glade species to disperse. The Peck Ranch, in the Ozarks, has been the site of past glade restoration work. Starting in 1984, lizard populations were translocated there with great success. Nevertheless, there was still no dispersal among the translocated populations and no colonization of unoccupied but restored glades (some as close as 64 meters). In collaboration with the Missouri Department of Conservation, some preliminary landscape burns were initiated in 1994 on the Peck Ranch. Following a burn in 1994 and a second burn in 1996 highly significant increases have occurred in both dispersal among glade populations and colonization of new glades. Dr. Templeton proposes to continue following the fate of the lizard populations in the burn areas with both genetic surveys as well as traditional mark/recapture studies. The genetic and mark/recapture data will allow rigorous tests about the dynamics of dispersal, gene flow and colonization at several different habitat and geographical scales. These studies ultimately will allow a detailed examination and rigorous testing of three interrelated issues fundamental to much of conservation biology: local extinction and recolonization, habitat fragmentation, and range expansion into restored areas.
