Managing yards for mammals: Mammal species richness peaks in the suburbs

2022 ◽  
Vol 220 ◽  
pp. 104337
Author(s):  
Aaron M. Grade ◽  
Paige S. Warren ◽  
Susannah B. Lerman
Author(s):  
Jiawei Feng ◽  
Yifei Sun ◽  
Hailong Li ◽  
Yuqi Xiao ◽  
Dandan Zhang ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 760-769 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Tyler Faith ◽  
Joe Dortch ◽  
Chelsea Jones ◽  
James Shulmeister ◽  
Kenny J. Travouillon

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Ana L. Márquez ◽  
Raimundo Real ◽  
Marta S. Kin ◽  
José Carlos Guerrero ◽  
Betina Galván ◽  
...  

We analysed the main geographical trends of terrestrial mammal species richness (SR) in Argentina, assessing how broad-scale environmental variation (defined by climatic and topographic variables) and the spatial form of the country (defined by spatial filters based on spatial eigenvector mapping (SEVM)) influence the kinds and the numbers of mammal species along these geographical trends. We also evaluated if there are pure geographical trends not accounted for by the environmental or spatial factors. The environmental variables and spatial filters that simultaneously correlated with the geographical variables and SR were considered potential causes of the geographic trends. We performed partial correlations between SR and the geographical variables, maintaining the selected explanatory variables statistically constant, to determine if SR was fully explained by them or if a significant residual geographic pattern remained. All groups and subgroups presented a latitudinal gradient not attributable to the spatial form of the country. Most of these trends were not explained by climate. We used a variation partitioning procedure to quantify the pure geographic trend (PGT) that remained unaccounted for. The PGT was larger for latitudinal than for longitudinal gradients. This suggests that historical or purely geographical causes may also be relevant drivers of these geographical gradients in mammal diversity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P. Sullivan ◽  
Druscilla S. Sullivan

Aerial and land-based applications of nitrogen-based fertilizers to enhance forest growth makes nutrients potentially available to all trees, plants, and wildlife in a given ecosystem and, therefore, may have direct and indirect effects on wildlife and biodiversity. A scientific review of these potential effects was conducted with 106 published studies covering vascular and nonvascular plants, amphibians, birds, mammals, terrestrial invertebrates, and soil animals associated with fertilization in temperate and boreal forests, primarily in North America and Scandinavia. In terms of direct effects, amphibians and domestic mammals appear to be the most sensitive to urea used in fertilization programs. The avoidance behaviour and (or) mortality of amphibians in laboratory studies was species dependent. Ruminant animals, including wild ungulates, rapidly convert urea to ammonia and are susceptible to toxicity following ingestion of large amounts of urea. Feeding on urea pellets by small mammals or gallinaceous birds appears to be minimal as granules are unpalatable. In terms of indirect effects, the majority of responses of understory herbs to nitrogen fertilization showed an increase in abundance. Some shrubs in repeatedly fertilized stands eventually increased in abundance in long-term studies, whereas dwarf shrubs and abundance of bryophytes (mosses and terrestrial lichens) declined. In general, species richness and diversity of understory herbs and shrubs declined, or were unaffected, in fertilized stands. Response in abundance and species richness-diversity of vascular plants to a single application of nitrogen showed either an increase or no change. Repeated applications (2–5 and >5) usually resulted in declines in these responses. Relative abundance of mule deer (Odocoileus Rafinesque spp.), moose (Alces alces L.), and hares (Lepus L. spp.), and forage quantity and quality were usually increased by fertilization. Small mammal species generally showed increases or no change in abundance; decreases may be related to fertilizer-induced changes in food sources. Forest fertilization may provide winter feeding habitat for coniferous foliage-gleaning insectivorous birds in some cases. Six species of forest grouse showed no response to fertilizer treatments. Responses of soil animals to nitrogen fertilization appeared to be species- and dose-specific and are ameliorated by surrounding micro- and macro-habitat characteristics.


1999 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 87 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Z. Woinarski ◽  
C. Palmer ◽  
A. Fisher ◽  
K. Brennan ◽  
R. Southgate ◽  
...  

Eighteen non-marine mammal species (including seven species of bats) were recorded from a total of 49 islands in the Wessel and English Company island chains off north-eastern Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. Most individual species were restricted to, or had higher incidence on, larger islands, and species richness as a whole increased as island size increased. The most notable exception was the semi-aquatic Hydromys chrysogaster, which occurred relatively equitably across island sizes; this species, two bat species and the macropod Petrogale brachyotis were recorded from islands smaller than 10 ha. However, the variation between islands in the number of native terrestrial mammal species was not best predicted by island size, but rather by a combination of sampling effort and altitude (which explained 64% of the deviance in species richness), or altitude and distance to larger land mass (explaining 63% of deviance). Richness–area patterns for individual islands in these chains were reasonably consistent with those of other islands sampled in northern Australia. However, the fauna of the Wessel and English Company groups as a whole was less rich than that of the Pellew and Kimberley islands, and individual islands appeared to have lower species richness than comparable mainland areas. Species that were notably absent or that were recorded from relatively few islands include large macropods, Tachyglossus aculeatus, Antechinus bellus, Phascogale tapoatafa, Sminthopsis spp., Mesembriomys gouldii, Rattus colletti, Leggadina lakedownensis and Pseudomys calabyi. Some of these species may be absent through lack of suitable habitat; others have presumably disappeared since isolation, possibly due to Aboriginal hunting. Richness at the quadrat (50 × 50 m) scale was generally very low. Habitat relationships are described for the 7 species recorded from more than 5 quadrats. At a quadrat-scale, the richness of native mammals was greater on islands larger than 1000 ha than on islands smaller than 1000 ha. Quadrat-scale species richness varied significantly among the islands sampled by the most quadrats (even when the comparison was restricted to either of the two most extensive vegetation types), but this variation was not closely related to either area or altitude. The two most frequently recorded species, the rodents Melomys burtoni and Zyzomys argurus, showed distinct habitat segregation on islands where both were present, but tended to expand their habitat range on islands where only one of the species occurred. The most notable conservation feature of the mammal fauna of the Wessel and English Company Islands is the occurrence of the golden bandicoot, Isoodon auratus, a vulnerable species apparently now extinct on the Northern Territory mainland. Four feral animal species (Rattus rattus, Canis familiaris, Bubalus bubalis and Capra hircus) were recorded from a total of 6 islands.


2015 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 70-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Kiffner ◽  
Michael Albertini ◽  
Alena Ede ◽  
Brenna Donnellan ◽  
Nathan Hahn ◽  
...  

2008 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 703-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Santos-Filho ◽  
DJ. da Silva ◽  
TM. Sanaiotti

A community of small mammals was studied in seasonal semideciduous submontane forest in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. This study evaluated the use of edge and matrix pasture, by different small mammal species. Overall, 31 areas were studied, with a total sampling effort of 33,800 trap x nights. Only seven of the 25 species captured in the study sites were able to use the pasture matrix; we classified these species as generalists. Fourteen species were found to be intermediate in habits, being able to use forest edges. We found only four species habitat specialists, occurring only on transect lines in the interior of the fragment, at least 150 m from the edge. Transects located in the pasture matrix and 50 m from the edge had significantly lower species richness and abundance than transects located in the fragment edge or in the interior of the fragment. All transects located within the fragment had similar species richness and abundance, but transects located 50 m from the edge had slightly lower, but non-significant, species richness than transects located 100 m apart from edges. Rarefaction curves demonstrated that only medium-sized fragments (100 300 ha) reached an asymptote of species accumulation. The other areas require further sampling, or more sampling transect, before species accumulation curves stabilize, due to a continued increase in species number.


Author(s):  
Susan Glenn ◽  
Brian Chapman ◽  
Rebecca Rudman ◽  
Ian Butler

The equilibrium theory of island biogeography proposes that on an island of a given area, there exists an equilibrium number of species when the rates of immigration and local extinction of species are equal (MacArthur and Wilson 1967). This theory has been applied to park systems because parks may act as functional islands when surrounding unprotected land is cleared of natural vegetation. Alteration of these surrounding habitats isolates these parks and reduces the effective area, causing a decrease in the equilibrium number of species. In animal communities, this process is called faunal collapse (Soule et al. 1979).The effects of park isolation and faunal collapse have been studied for mammals in Rocky Mountain parks (Picton 1979, Newmark 1986, Glenn and Nudds 1989). In western U.S. parks, extinctions were more numerous in smaller or older parks (Newmark 1987). Area, topographic diversity, and habitat diversity have been correlated with mammal species richness in western North American parks (Picton 1979, Newmark 1986). Initial population size was also related to the extinction probability of a species (Newmark 1986). It has been proposed that all parks in a region are subject to similar factors influencing local extinctions, and therefore a similar suite of species should become locally extinct in all parks (Patterson and Atmar 1986, Patterson 1987). This means that a nested subset pattern is produced, where parks with low species richness contain mainly species already present in parks with high species richness. This pattern was not found for Canadian parks, where even small parks contained different species assemblages (Glenn 1990). The objectives of this three-year study are to: (i) identify mammal species that have become locally extinct in each of the Rocky Mountain National Parks; (ii) distinguish between hypotheses regarding the causes of these local extinctions in National Parks; (iii) determine if the same species become locally extinct in all parks; and (iv) identify potential sites for future protection of species prone to extinction.


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