Relationships between deer mice and downed wood in managed forests of southern British Columbia

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (9) ◽  
pp. 2189-2203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa J Craig ◽  
Walt Klenner ◽  
Michael C Feller ◽  
Thomas P Sullivan

We examined the relationship between deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus (Wagner)) and downed wood in a low-elevation Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) forest and a high-elevation Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm.) – subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt.) forest in the south-central interior of British Columbia. We experimentally manipulated the volume of downed wood on clear-cut and forested sites and monitored the response of deer mice with a mark–recapture study to assess population densities and survival and reproduction rates. Populations responded positively to harvesting at the low-elevation but not the high-elevation study area. At the low-elevation study area, the population dynamics of deer mice on clear-cut and forested treatments were not positively associated with patterns of vegetation cover or increasing downed-wood volumes. Instead, populations on clearcuts appeared to increase in response to an unknown factor associated with lower volumes. No relationship was detected between population dynamics of deer mice and downed-wood volumes at the high-elevation site. The population dynamics of deer mice on forests at the high-elevation site appeared to be more closely related to vegetation cover than to downed wood. The results indicated that downed wood is not a critical habitat component for deer mice in the south-central interior of British Columbia.

1969 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 1468-1470 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. B. Farquharson ◽  
J. J. Stipp

Potassium–argon dates for late Tertiary dolerite plugs in south-central British Columbia indicate that a period of volcanism occurred in mid-Pliocene time.


1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (11) ◽  
pp. 2023-2034 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bruce Runciman ◽  
Thomas P. Sullivan

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that conifer release treatments would simplify habitat structure and reduce small mammal populations in forest plantations. A secondary objective was to examine some important demographic characteristics, for selected small mammal species, that may be affected by changes in habitat. We examined the effects of manual cutting and cut-stump applications of glyphosate herbicide on vegetation, woody debris, and small mammal populations from 1991 to 1994 in young mixed-conifer plantations of south central British Columbia, Canada. The experimental design consisted of 9 separate and independent plantations: 3 controls, 3 manual treatments, and 3 cut-stump treatments. Total volumes of herbs, shrubs, coniferous trees, and woody debris were not affected by manual or cut-stump treatments for conifer release. Both treatments reduced total volumes of deciduous trees in the first posttreatment year. However, deciduous tree volumes on manual treatments had largely returned to pretreatment levels by the second posttreatment year. There were no significant (P > 0.05) effects of manual or cut-stump treatments on the population size of deer mice (Peromyscusmaniculatus Wagner), yellow-pine chipmunks (Tamiasamoenus J.A. Allen), southern red-backed voles (Clethrionomysgapped Vigors), or long-tailed voles (Microtuslongicaudus Merriam). The response of meadow voles (Microtuspennsylvanicus Ord) was variable. Sex ratios, body weights, reproduction, recruitment, and survival of deer mice remained similar on treatment and control plantations throughout this study. Changes in habitat structure up to 2 years posttreatment did not appear to exceed the tolerance of small mammal populations for early successional change.


2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (9) ◽  
pp. 1698-1708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas B. Ransome ◽  
Pontus M.F. Lindgren ◽  
Michaela J. Waterhouse ◽  
Harold M. Armleder ◽  
Thomas P. Sullivan

Concerns about the impacts of clear-cut harvesting on ecosystem components in subalpine forests have generated a variety of alternative silvicultural systems in high-elevation forests in western North America. We examined responses of forest-floor small mammals, 14 years posttreatment, in four replicate units, uncut forest, a 1.0 ha group-selection cut, a large (>30 ha) clearcut, and the edge between the group-selection cut and uncut forest, in the Engelmann Spruce ( Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm.) – Subalpine Fir ( Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt.) biogeoclimatic zone in south-central British Columbia, Canada. Populations of small mammals were livetrapped during five sessions from June to September 2006. The mean abundance of southern red-backed voles ( Myodes gapperi Vigors) was significantly lower on large clearcuts than in uncut old-growth forests, with intermediate numbers in 1 ha cuts. The opposite trend was found for dusky shrews ( Sorex monticolus Merriam), while there was no significant difference in mean abundance of deer mice ( Peromyscus maniculatus Wagner) among treatments. Trappability, proportion of adult females breeding, and rate of survival of red-backed voles and deer mice were similar among treatments. Our results suggest that group-selection silviculture conducted in subalpine forests may have fewer negative impacts on the small-mammal community than large clearcuts.


2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (12) ◽  
pp. 2283-2296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walt Klenner ◽  
Thomas P Sullivan

Subalpine spruce (Picea) – fir (Abies) forests occur throughout the Cordillera of western North America. A variety of alternative silvicultural systems to clear-cutting are being investigated in these high-elevation forests in terms of their impacts on ecosystem components. We tested the hypotheses that abundance, reproduction, and survival of populations of (i) southern red-backed voles (Clethrionomys gapperi Vigors) will decline, (ii) long-tailed voles (Microtus longicaudus Merriam) and northwestern chipmunks (Tamias amoenus J.A. Allen) will increase, and (iii) deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus Wagner) will be similar, with respect to decreasing levels of tree retention. Small mammal populations were live-trapped from 1994 to 1998 in replicated sites of uncut forest, single tree selection, 0.1-ha patch cuts, 1.0-ha patch cuts, a 10.0-ha clearcut, and edges in an Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm.) – subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt.) forest near Sicamous, British Columbia, Canada. Clethrion omys gapperi dominated the small mammal community, reaching a peak abundance of 80 animals/ha with mean values ranging from 31 to 50 animals/ha. Over the 4 postharvest years, abundance, reproduction, and survival of C. gapperi populations were consistently similar among uncut forest, single tree selection, and patch cut treatments compared with clear-cut sites where this species declined to extirpation. Microtus longicaudus and T. amoenus occurred predominantly in clearcut sites, whereas P. maniculatus was present in low numbers on all sites. With respect to small mammals, partial harvesting systems appear to provide a means for combining timber extraction with maintenance of mature forest habitat in these subalpine ecosystems.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. e0229370
Author(s):  
Alfredo Coppa ◽  
Francesca Candilio ◽  
Claudia Arganini ◽  
Edmundo de la Vega Machicao ◽  
Edmundo G. Moreno Terrazas ◽  
...  

The present study applies a dental morphological perspective to the understanding of the complex pre-contact population history of the South Central Andes, through the detection of the underlying dynamics, and the assessment of the biological ties among groups. It presents an analysis of 1591 individuals from 66 sites that date from the Archaic to the Late Intermediate phases from Bolivia, Chile and Peru. The results suggest this area is characterized by significant movement of people and cultures and, at the same time, by long standing population continuity, and highlight the need for wider perspectives capable of taking into account both the different micro-regional realities and the region in its entirety.


2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea C. Voit ◽  
Richard J. Hebda ◽  
Julien M.J. Racca ◽  
Reinhard Pienitz ◽  
Ian R. Walker ◽  
...  

Diatom analyses of sediments from a high elevation lake situated in an Engelmann Spruce - Subalpine Fir (ESSF) forest of south-central British Columbia, Canada, reveal long-term climate and water chemistry change. During the transition from the late-glacial / Pleistocene to the xerothermic early Holocene, small, benthic Fragilaria diatoms species that grew under low light conditions in Sicamous Creek Lake gave way to planktonic Cyclotella species that require open-water conditions. Warm temperatures in the mesothermic Holocene are indicated by smaller Cyclotella species and large, benthic pennate diatoms. Diatom communities reflected Neoglacial cooling in the late Holocene, with abundant Nitzschia fonticola and Achnanthes minutissima. Small, benthic Fragilaria regained abundance, suggesting cooling and conditions similar to the late-glacial interval. Diatom community composition responded to the deposition of the Mt. Mazama and Mt. St. Helens tephras, though the Mazama eruption caused greater change in relative abundance of various taxa within the assemblage. Correspondence analysis shows distinct communities have occurred since the initiation of sedimentation, likely due to climate controlled landscape and vegetation changes; diatom-inferred pH values using various models and training sets show limited acidification change occurred through the lake’s history.


1999 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 467-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Vyse

The Sicamous Creek Project was established as part of the British Columbia Provincial Silvicultural Systems program in 1990 to investigate the effects of clearcutting and other practices on a high elevation forested ecosystem. The objective is to provide the forestry community with information on the ecology of high elevation forests in the Southern Interior, and the probable responses to a wide range of disturbance. After a period of planning by a team of scientists and foresters from several agencies, a site in subalpine fir-Engelmann spruce forest at 1530 m to 1830 m elevation near the town of Sicamous in the south central interior of British Columbia was logged in the winter of 1994–95. A range of treatments was created by logging one third of the forest in 30 ha experimental units using a range of opening sizes (individual tree selection, 1/10 ha, 1 ha, and 10 ha) and a no-logging control. Within these experimental units, smaller areas (0.08 ha) have been treated to create a range of soil disturbance conditions (no disturbance, burning, complete organic soil removal, mounding). A wide range of studies has been conducted on the site by a team of scientists before and after treatment and those studies are continuing. The project is long-term, (at least 30 years), the main treatments are sufficiently large to have operational significance, and the supported studies are intended to be interdisciplinary in scientific method and scope. Support for the project is strong within the operational forestry community because information on logging costs, safety issues and snags, windthrow, bark beetle management, wildlife habitat and small streams has already been made available to them. Studies of stand structure and wildlife habitat suggest that in future much greater emphasis should be placed on the silviculture of fir than spruce. Key words: silviculture systems, clearcutting, opening size, Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir, long term research, interdisciplinary research


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