scholarly journals Post-fire recovery of torpor and activity patterns of a small mammal

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 20170036 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Stawski ◽  
Taylor Hume ◽  
Gerhard Körtner ◽  
Shannon E. Currie ◽  
Julia Nowack ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammal ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Control Area ◽  
Vegetation Recovery ◽  
Reduce Activity ◽  
Energy Conserving ◽  
Antechinus Stuartii ◽  
Marsupial Mammal

To cope with the post-fire challenges of decreased availability of food and shelter, brown antechinus ( Antechinus stuartii ), a small marsupial mammal, increase the use of energy-conserving torpor and reduce activity. However, it is not known how long it takes for animals to resume pre-fire torpor and activity patterns during the recovery of burnt habitat. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that antechinus will adjust torpor use and activity after a fire depending on vegetation recovery. We simultaneously quantified torpor and activity patterns for female antechinus from three adjacent areas: (i) the area of a management burn 1 year post-fire, (ii) an area that was burned 2 years prior, and (iii) a control area. In comparison to shortly after the management burn, antechinus in all three groups displayed less frequent and less pronounced torpor while being more active. We provide the first evidence that only 1 year post-fire antechinus resume pre-fire torpor and activity patterns, probably in response to the return of herbaceous ground cover and foraging opportunities.

Effects of logging and fire on small mammals in Mumbulla State Forest, near Bega, New South Wales

1987 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 163 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Lunney ◽  
B. Cullis ◽  
P. Eby
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
First Year ◽  
Severe Effect ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Antechinus Stuartii ◽  
Rattus Fuscipes

This study of the effects of logging on small mammals in Mumbulla State Forest on the south coast of New South Wales included the effects of a fire in November 1980 and a drought throughout the study period from June 1980 to June 1983. Rattus fuscipes was sensitive to change: logging had a significant impact on its numbers, response to ground cover, and recapture rate; fire had a more severe effect, and drought retarded the post-fire recovery of the population. The three species of dasyurid marsupials differed markedly in their response to ground cover, canopy cover, logging and fire. Antechinus stuartii was distributed evenly through all habitats and was not affected by logging, but fire had an immediate and adverse effect which was sustained by the intense drought. A. swainsonii markedly preferred the regenerating forest, and was not seen again after the fire, the failure of the population being attributed to its dependence on dense ground cover. Sminthopsis leucopus was found in low numbers, appeared to prefer forest with sparse ground cover, and showed no immediate response to logging or fire; its disappearance by the third year post-fire suggests that regenerating forest is inimical to the survival of this species. Mus musculus showed no response to logging. In the first year following the fire its numbers were still very low, but in the next year there was a short-lived plague which coincided with the only respite in the 3-year drought and, importantly, occurred in the intensely burnt parts of the forest. The options for managing this forest for the conservation of small mammals include minimising fire, retaining unlogged forest, extending the time over which alternate coupes are logged and minimising disturbance from heavy machinery.

Demographic responses of small mammal populations to a herbicide application in coastal coniferous forest: population density and resiliency

1990 ◽  
Vol 68 (5) ◽  
pp. 874-883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammal ◽  
Average Duration ◽  
Deer Mouse ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Control Area ◽  
Deer Mice ◽  
Herbicide Application ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Small Mammal Species ◽  
Demographic Responses

This study was designed to assess the demographic responses of small mammal populations to herbicide-induced habitat alteration in a 7-year-old Douglas-fir plantation near Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada. Populations of the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus), Oregon vole (Microtus oregoni), Townsend chipmunk (Eutamias townsendii), and shrews (Sorex spp.) were sampled in control and treatment habitats from April 1981 to September 1983 and from April to October 1985. Recolonization of removal areas by these species was also monitored in both habitats. There was little difference in abundance of deer mice, Oregon voles, and shrews between control and treatment study areas. Chipmunk populations appeared to decline temporarily on the treatment areas relative to controls. Recolonization by voles was not affected by habitat change, but for deer mice was lower on the treatment than control area. Both deer mouse and Oregon vole populations were at comparable densities on control and treatment areas in the second and fourth years after herbicide treatment. The proportion of breeding animals and average duration of life were similar in control and treatment populations of deer mice and voles. These small mammal species should be able to persist in areas of coastal coniferous forest that are treated with herbicide for conifer release.

The Relationship Between Cinnamon Fungus (Phytophthora Cinnamomi) and the Abundance of Antechinus Stuartii (Dasyuridae: Marsupialia) in the Brisbane Ranges, Victoria.

1993 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 251 ◽  
Author(s):  
GR Newell ◽  
BA Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammal ◽  
National Park ◽  
Phytophthora Cinnamomi ◽  
Capture Rate ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Structural Level ◽  
Public Land Management ◽  
Water Board ◽  
Antechinus Stuartii ◽  
History Of

The Brisbane Ranges include areas of National Park, water catchment and freehold land that have a history of infection with the pathogen P. cinnamomi since the late 1960s. A systematic survey of the small-mammal fauna of the Brisbane Ranges National Park and the Geelong and District Water Board catchments in relation to the pathogen was carried out in 1987. A. stuartii was the only species trapped regularly. The volume of vegetation to a structural level of 60 cm was significantly lower at sites where P. cinnamomi was present. The abundance of A. stuartii was also significantly lower at sites infected with P. cinnamomi, and a significant relationship is shown between the capture rate of A. stuartii and the volume of vegetation present up to 40 cm above ground level. This work indicates a possible association between P. cinnamomi and populations of A. stuartii, and the relationships between the pathogen, habitat quality and small-mammal distribution are discussed. These findings have implications for public land management and management of fauna in areas prone to infection with P. cinnamomi.

Within-Patch Structures Influence Small Mammal Abundance in Managed Forests of Northern California, USA

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (6) ◽  
pp. 796-804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven M Gray ◽  
Gary J Roloff ◽  
Andrew J Dennhardt ◽  
Brian P Dotters ◽  
Thomas T Engstrom
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammal ◽  
Forest Type ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Ground Squirrels ◽  
Northern California ◽  
Managed Forests ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Forest Patches ◽  
Downed Wood ◽  
Intensively Managed

Abstract We evaluated how forest type, vegetation structure in trapping webs, and proximate forest types influenced localized (~6.35 hectares) abundances for commonly captured small mammals in northern California, USA. We trapped from May to August of 2011–13 in 69 forest patches that represented: (1) clearcuts (3–5 years postharvest), (2) 10–20 year-old conifer plantations, (3) rotation-aged conifer stands, and (4) Watercourse and Lake Protection Zones. We captured 11 species; four in sufficient numbers for regression modeling. Our average abundance estimates for the study were 4.57 (standard error [SE] = 0.43), 0.32 (SE = 0.11), 0.90 (SE = 0.30), and 0.25 (SE = 0.09) individuals per web location (~0.75 hectares) for Peromyscus spp., Neotoma spp., California ground squirrels, and Allen’s chipmunks. We found that web-level ground cover (shrubs and grass), downed wood, and types of forests containing our trapping webs best described small mammal abundances, whereas proximate forest types were not important. Our results indicated that retaining localized structures in the form of understory shrub cover and downed wood positively influences small mammal abundance in intensively managed forests of northern California.

scholarly journals Activity patterns and torpor in two free-ranging carnivorous marsupials in arid Australia in relation to precipitation, reproduction, and ground cover

2016 ◽  
Vol 97 (6) ◽  
pp. 1555-1564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerhard Körtner ◽  
Alexander Riek ◽  
Chris R. Pavey ◽  
Fritz Geiser
Keyword(s):  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Free Ranging

Increasing ocean temperatures reduce activity patterns of a large commercially important coral reef fish

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 1067-1074 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Johansen ◽  
V. Messmer ◽  
D. J. Coker ◽  
A. S. Hoey ◽  
M. S. Pratchett
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Reef Fish ◽  
Coral Reef Fish ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Reduce Activity ◽  
Commercially Important

scholarly journals Behavioural mechanisms of competition in small dasyurid marsupials

2000 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Righetti ◽  
Barry J. Fox ◽  
David B. Croft
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Interspecific Competition ◽  
Intraspecific Competition ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Interference Competition ◽  
Avoidance Behaviour ◽  
Antechinus Stuartii ◽  
Competitive Behaviour ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Interspecific Comparisons

The competitive behaviour of three species of small dasyurid marsupial, Antechinus swainsonii, Antechinus stuartii and Sminthopsis murina, was assessed in specially designed enclosures and smaller encounter cages, by videotaping the activity of pairs of animals, both as conspecifics and members of different species (except for A. swainsoni versus S. murina). Spatio-temporal analyses revealed differences in activity patterns and interactions within and between the species. Interference competition occurred in all intraspecific and interspecific comparisons tested. Encounter competition was judged to be the mechanism operating as all animals entered into interactions with other individuals. Encounters were particularly prevalent within Antechinus, indicating that they were more social than the relatively solitary Sminthopsis. Avoidance behaviour occurred between the two Antechinus species and this may enable them to coexist, so that this mechanism may be considered to be avoidance competition. The smaller competitor, S. murina, showed avoidance of the larger A. stuartii. Intraspecific competition was judged to be stronger than interspecific competition, but the latter could have more severe consequences, with the death of the smaller species occurring in some situations. This highlighted the asymmetric nature of competition, with body size determining the outcome of interactions between species.

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