A habitat model for the Virginia northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus) in the central Appalachian Mountains

The Virginia northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus) is an endangered sciurid that occurs in the Allegheny Mountains of Virginia and West Virginia. Despite its status, few of its ecological requirements have been synthesized for landscape-level predictive distributions to facilitate habitat delineation efforts. Using logistic regression, we developed a GIS-based habitat model for the Virginia northern flying squirrel using micro- and macrohabitat relationship data in West Virginia. Important habitat characteristics obtained from radio-collared squirrels included: (1) elevation over 1036 m; (2) northerly aspects; and (3) red spruce (Picea rubens) and mixed northern hardwood-red spruce cover types. A final model retaining elevation and forest cover type showed reasonably high predictive power across a large portion of the Allegheny Mountains in West Virginia.