Effects of tropical rainforest roads on small mammals: inhibition of crossing movements

2001 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Goosem
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
Tropical Rainforest ◽  
Species Differences ◽  
Vegetative Cover ◽  
The Road ◽  
Barrier Effects ◽  
Linear Barrier ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Wide Road

Along a narrow, unsealed road through rainforest in north-eastern Queensland, movements of small mammals were examined to determine whether the road would inhibit road crossings, thereby causing linear barrier effects. Crossings of a 12- or 20-m-wide road clearing by Melomys cervinipes were severely inhibited, crossing inhibition of Rattus sp. was less severe, while crossings by Uromys caudimaculatus were unaffected. This differential effect was attributed to species differences in size, mobility and behaviour. Baiting on only one side of the road increased crossing rates for all species. During the breeding season, crossings of 20-m clearings by Rattus sp. were almost completely inhibited and were significantly fewer than crossings of 12-m clearings. Clearing width had little effect on crossing rate outside the breeding season. Seasonal dispersal of juvenile and breeding animals appeared to explain this discrepancy in clearing-width effects. Rattus sp. were significantly less likely to cross a road where there was no vegetative cover at the entrance to a road culvert than where there was cover at both culvert entrances. Linear barrier effects for small mammals may be mitigated by narrower road-clearing widths, by replanting of grassy road verges resulting in increased cover at culvert entrances and canopy closure above the road, and by providing more faunal underpasses.

Use by small mammals of a chronosequence of tropical rainforest revegetation

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tegan Whitehead ◽  
Miriam Goosem ◽  
Noel D. Preece
Keyword(s):  
Community Composition ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Tropical Rainforest ◽  
Management Technique ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Small Mammal Community ◽  
Mammal Community ◽  
Abundance And Diversity

Context The conversion of tropical rainforest to grazing pasture results in a drastic change in small-mammal community composition. Restoring the landscape through ecological revegetation is thus an increasingly important management technique to conserve rainforest mammals. Aims This study aimed to determine the habitat ages at which species of small mammals recolonised revegetated habitats on the southern Atherton Tablelands, north-eastern Queensland, Australia. We focussed on changes in rainforest mammal abundance and diversity with increasing habitat age. Methods Small-mammal trapping and mark–recapture techniques investigated mammal diversity, abundance and community composition within remnant rainforest, three age classes of ecological revegetation and abandoned grazing pasture. Key results Small-mammal community composition differed between remnant rainforest and abandoned grazing pasture. The pasture and 3-year old revegetated sites were similar in composition, both lacking rainforest small mammals. Six- and 7-year old revegetation plantings provided suboptimal habitat for both rainforest and grassland mammals, whereas 16- and 22-year old revegetated habitats were dominated by rainforest species, with some individuals being frequently recaptured. Conclusions As revegetated habitats aged, the small-mammal community composition transitioned from a grassland-like composition to a community dominated by rainforest species. Implications Although rainforest small mammals were very occasionally captured within the 6- and 7-year old habitats, revegetated plantings were not dominated by rainforest species until the habitat was 16 years old. This highlights the importance of commencing revegetation as early as possible to minimise future population declines and maximise the conservation of rainforest mammals.

Fragmentation of a Small-mammal Community by a Powerline Corridor through Tropical Rainforest

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Goosem ◽  
Helene Marsh
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Tropical Rainforest ◽  
Grassland Community ◽  
Grassland Species ◽  
Habitat Differences ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Small Mammal Community ◽  
Wet Tropics ◽  
Mammal Community

Trapping was used to investigate small-mammal community composition of a cleared powerline corridor compared with that of surrounding tropical rainforest in the wet tropics of north-eastern Queensland and to determine whether movements from the rainforest across the corridor were inhibited. The dense exotic grassland of the cleared powerline corridor supported a small-mammal community composed mainly of the grassland species Melomys burtoni (73·3%) and Rattus sordidus (15·0%) with rainforest small mammals being restricted to woody-weed thickets along the rainforest–powerline corridor edge. The rainforest species Rattus sp. (80·3%), Melomys cervinipes (10·9%) and Uromys caudimaculatus (8·8%) comprised the small-mammal community of the forest interior. These rainforest species also inhabited rainforest edge habitat and regrowth rainforest connections across gullies. Movements of rainforest species across the grassland corridor were almost completely inhibited even under bait inducement, a result attributable to the substantial structural and microclimatic habitat differences within the clearing and to interspecific competition with the better-adapted species of the grassland community. Rainforest species used regrowth connections along gullies to cross the powerline corridor. Mitigation of the fragmentation effects caused by powerline grassy swathes can best be achieved by strengthening extant canopy connections in regrowth gullies, and by establishing new connections across the clearings.

Effects of tropical rainforest roads on small mammals: fragmentation, edge effects and traffic disturbance

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 277 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Goosem
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
The Road ◽  
Forest Interior ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Traffic Volumes ◽  
Traffic Level ◽  
Traffic Disturbance

In north-eastern Queensland, impacts on small mammals of traffic disturbance were compared with those caused by physical presence of rainforest roads by trapping in the rainforest interior and adjacent to narrow, unsealed roads with traffic volumes of 264 ± 71 or 4.2 ± 1 vehicles per day. Of the three small mammal species that were most commonly trapped, the proportion and abundance of native Rattus sp. increased at higher-traffic and decreased at lower-traffic sites; the abundance of Melomys cervinipes was relatively constant at both traffic treatments and in the forest interior, and Uromys caudimaculatus decreased at higher-traffic treatments. Road crossings by the smaller rodents, Rattus sp. and M. cervinipes, were primarily influenced by the presence of the road, rather than increased levels of traffic, as crossings were significantly inhibited at both traffic treatments compared with the forest-interior control and there was no difference between traffic levels. Crossings by the larger, more mobile U. caudimaculatus were unaffected by road presence or traffic level. Therefore, increased traffic volume did not appear to affect small mammal movements or community structure. However, since higher traffic levels were not constant throughout the peak periods for activity of these nocturnal species, further investigations are required to determine whether constant nocturnal traffic disturbance may further restrict road crossings by small mammals and alter community structure adjacent to roads.

Effects of tropical rainforest roads on small mammals: edge changes in community composition

2000 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Goosem
Keyword(s):  
Edge Effects ◽  
Tropical Rainforest ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Canopy Closure ◽  
The Road ◽  
Forest Interior ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Small Mammal Community ◽  
Wet Tropics ◽  
Road Verges

In the wet tropics of north-eastern Queensland, the composition of the small-mammal community close to the edge of an unsealed rainforest road differed from that of the forest interior. During the first of two trapping series, mark–recapture trapping demonstrated that the abundance of Melomys cervinipes increased near the road and that significantly moreRattus sp. resided further from the road. At sites lacking canopy closure where the road clearing width measured 20 m, these edge effects were more noticeable than where canopy closure was maintained across narrower (12 m) clearings, with greater proportions of M. cervinipes occurring near wider clearing edges. During the second trapping series, edge effects also clearly occurred at the narrower clearings: M. cervinipes again preferred edge habitats and Rattus sp. preferred the forest interior. However, no significant effect of clearing width or distance from the edge for individual species was found during the second trapping series. The proportions of Rattus sp. and M. cervinipes had altered due to an influx of juvenile M. cervinipes into the trappable community during and after the breeding season, together with more individuals of Rattus sp. colonising the previously under-utilised habitat near the road. Edge avoidance by Rattus sp. appeared to be linked to preference for undisturbed habitat, while M. cervinipes was more of a generalist. Road verges with grassy habitat allowed the occasional intrusion of Rattus sordidus and Melomys burtoni – species alien to the rainforest.

Powerline Easements: Do They Promote Edge Effects in Eucalypt Forest for Small Mammals?

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 737 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross L. Goldingay ◽  
Robert J. Whelan
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Edge Effects ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Vegetative Cover ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Eucalypt Forest ◽  
Hair Sampling ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Antechinus Stuartii

The distribution and abundance of small terrestrial mammals were assessed in forest adjacent to powerline easements at three different sites in New South Wales. At each site, four transects of 300 m length extended into the forest from the edge of the easement. The abundances of two native species (Antechinus stuartii, Rattus fuscipes) did not differ significantly with distance from the easement but abundances differed markedly among sites. Mammals were captured in only one easement where dense vegetation was present. Feral carnivores, which may mediate edge effects on small mammals, were surveyed by using hair-sampling tubes. Cats and dogs were detected only 50–200 m inside the forest. Foxes were not detected by hair-tubes but were observed on two easements. These results suggest that powerline easements may not create edge effects in eucalypt forest for some native mammal species, although further studies are needed to determine the generality of this conclusion. We recommend that easement management should be more benign to native mammals, given the ubiquity of this form of habitat fragmentation. Promotion of dense vegetative cover and habitat linkages within easements could achieve this.

Changes in small mammal communities after logging in north-central Ontario

1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 970-980 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur M. Martell
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Vegetative Cover ◽  
North Central ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Clear Cutting ◽  
Small Mammal Community ◽  
Small Mammal Communities ◽  
Mammal Community ◽  
Mammal Communities

Changes in small mammal communities following logging were monitored in clear-cut and strip-cut upland black spruce (Picea mariana) stands and in selectively cut mixed wood stands in north-central Ontario. Clear-cutting and subsequent scarification essentially eliminated the vegetative cover. Much of the ground cover recovered within 5 years and shrubs within 12 years, but mosses and lichens took much longer. The small mammal community in both clear-cut and strip-cut stands changed over the first three years after logging from one dominated by southern red-backed voles (Clethrionomys gapperi) to one dominated by deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) and then remained relatively stable for up to 13 years after harvest. That shift was not apparent in selectively cut mixed wood stands where the composition of the small mammal community was similar between uncut stands and stands 4–23 years after harvest. There was relatively little change in total numbers of small mammals after logging. In general, the diversity and evenness of small mammals increased or remained stable in the first 1–3 years following harvest, decreased on older (3–16 years) cuts, and then increased to values similar to those in uncut stands on the oldest (19–23 years) cuts.

scholarly journals The Balkan endemics Moehringia Jankae Griseb. ex Janka and Moehringia Grisebachii Janka in Bulgaria

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 261-269
Author(s):  
M. Zhelyazkova ◽  
N. Grozeva ◽  
M. Gerdzhikova ◽  
S. Terzieva
Keyword(s):  
Current Distribution ◽  
Negative Influence ◽  
Rock Formation ◽  
The Road ◽  
Natural Park ◽  
Rock Formations ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Routing Method

The aim of the study is to establish the current distribution оf Balkan endemics Moehringia jankae Griseb. ex Janka and Moehringia grisebachii Janka in Bulgaria. The routing method was used. All areas which the species inhabit according to literary sources were visited. Established were 12 populations of M. jankae and 32 populations of M. grisebachii. All established populations of M. jankae were from the Eastern Balkan Range on the territory of Sinite Kamani Natural Park. Three of the registered populations of M. grisebachii were from North-Eastern Bulgaria (Shumen region, near village Madara). Thirteen were from Sredna Gora Mts (nine on the territory of village Rozovets, two between village Rozovets and Bratan peak, two on peak Orlite and one between peak Orlite and the megalith Popova turla, rock formation along the road from village Rozovets to the rock formation Pravite kamani, the rock formation Pravite kamani, rock formations west of the megalith Pravite kamani, and one above village Pesnopoy in the area Usoykata). Nineteen were from the Eastern Balkan Range on the territory of Sinite Kamani Natural Park. Each population was assessed and the factors with negative influence were indicated.

scholarly journals Disentangle the Causes of the Road Barrier Effect in Small Mammals through Genetic Patterns

PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. e0151500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Ascensão ◽  
Cristina Mata ◽  
Juan E. Malo ◽  
Pablo Ruiz-Capillas ◽  
Catarina Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Barrier Effect ◽  
The Road ◽  
Genetic Patterns ◽  
Road Barrier Effect

The Ecology of Small Mammals in Northeastern Tasmania .2. Pseudomys-Novaehollandiae and the Introduced Mus-Musculus

1987 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 435 ◽  
Author(s):  
TW Norton
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Mus Musculus ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Leaf Tissue ◽  
Spatial Separation ◽  
Floristic Richness ◽  
North Eastern

Pseudomys novaehollandiae and the introduced Mus musculus were sympatric and restricted to dry heathland in north-eastern Tasmania. Both species preferred the same floristic groups, and captures of both were positively correlated with floristic richness and negatively correlated with vegetation cover less than 50 cm high. P. novaehollandiae and M. musculus also had a similar diet of stem and leaf tissue, seed and insects. Spatial separation of the species was not shown.

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