The Effects of Habitat Fragmentation and Factors Influencing Nest Box Use on the Southern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys volans) in Southern Illinois

I studied the effects of habitat :fragmentation on the southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) in 30 forest fragments in southern Illinois. The fragments ranged in size from 6 ha to 5264 ha, and had varying degrees of isolation. I placed 10 nest boxes in each habitat fragment and checked them monthly. I captured southern flying squirrels in 24 of the 30 fragments, and found evidence of squirrels (i.e., nests and feeding stations) in 4 additional fragments. Thus, only 2 fragments did not show any evidence of squirrel use suggesting that the southern flying squirrel may not be particularly sensitive to the negative impacts of habitat fragmentation, in a primarily forested landscape like southern Illinois. However, the 2 fragments apparently lacking squirrels were small and isolated