Small mammal and habitat response to shoreline cottage development in central Ontario

1982 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 865-880 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. D. Racey ◽  
D. L. Euler

Changes in small mammal abundance and habitat caused by shoreline cottage development in central Ontario were studied in the summers of 1978 and 1979. This development significantly altered the vegetation composition and structure in the vicinity of cottages. These alterations, in turn, had an impact on small mammal abundance. These animals were classified in three response categories: tolerant (existing, at some level, regardless of degree of development), intolerant (extirpated at high levels of development), and indifferent to development. Tolerant species were the eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus), short-tailed shrew (Blarina brevicauda), and deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus); intolerant species were the masked shrew (Sorex cinereus), red-backed vole (Clethrionomys gapperi), and woodland jumping mouse (Napeozapus insignis). The red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) was indifferent to development. Small mammal diversity was highest on mixed shorelines at moderate levels of development. Species diversity appeared to respond positively to vegetative composition, edge effect, and irregularity of habitat. These characteristics were all dependent on the level of cottage development.

Author(s):  
Patricia N Siy ◽  
Ryan T Larson ◽  
Tela E Zembsch ◽  
Xia Lee ◽  
Susan M Paskewitz

Abstract Borrelia mayonii is a recently discovered bacterial spirochete that causes Lyme disease and is transmitted by the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis Say (Acari: Ixodidae). To date, B. mayonii has been isolated from two vertebrate host species in Minnesota: field-caught white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus Rafinesque; Rodentia: Cricetidae) and American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus Erxleben). Here, we describe the first detection of B. mayonii in field-caught eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus L. (Rodentia: Cricetidae)) from northern Wisconsin. During our study, we captured 530 unique small mammals and found an infection prevalence of 23.50% in field-caught eastern chipmunks (4/17) and 1.19% in Peromyscus spp. (5/420). Mean larval and nymphal burdens were determined for captured Blarina brevicauda (0, 0), Glaucomys volans (0.29, 0.14), Myodes gapperi (0.27, 0), Napaeozapus insignis (0, 0.25), Peromyscus spp. (1.88, 0.11), T. striatus (1.06, 0.65), and Sorex cinereus (0.09, 0). The high B. mayonii infection prevalence in eastern chipmunks suggests that the species may be an important reservoir for B. mayonii in the Upper Midwest.


1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (12) ◽  
pp. 2748-2755 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. I. Burachynsky ◽  
T. D. Galloway

During a 2-year study on the relationships between immature Dermacentor variabilis and their small-mammal hosts near Birds Hill, Manitoba, 739 captures of 427 mammals were examined for ticks. Captures represented 11 mammal species: Clethrionomys gapperi, Lepus americanus, Microtus pennsylvanicus, Mus musculus, Peromyscus maniculatus, Sorex cinereus, Spermophilus franklinii, Spermophilus tridecemlineatus, Tamias striatus, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, and Zapus hudsonius. Clethrionomys gapperi, M. pennsylvanicus, P. maniculatus, S. franklinii, and Z. hudsonius were most frequently encountered and, with the exception of S. franklinii, infested with larvae and nymphs. Clethrionomys gapperi were most frequently infested by D. variabilis and produced 42.6% and 60.5% of larvae collected in 1979 and 1980, respectively, and over 85% of all nymphs. Peak larval infestation occurred between the last week of May and the middle of June; that for nymphs occurred in July in both 1979 and 1980. Dermacentor variabilis appeared to have a 2-year life cycle in Manitoba. Larvae were spatially aggregated during both years and aggregates were located in different areas of the plots each year. Nymphs were less aggregated than larvae. The distribution of nymphs overlapped that of larvae each year and occupied a greater area on the plots.


1959 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reino S. Freeman

A review of the taxonomy of the genus Cladotaenia established that at least four species of this genus occur in Europe, Egypt, and Sudan; that four species occur in North America; and that there are 10 valid species in the world. C. circi Yamaguti, 1935 is redescribed from Circus cyaneus hudsonius and Accipiter cooperi, and C. globifera (Batsch, 1786) is redescribed from Accipiter gentilis atricapillus, A. striatus velox, Buteo p. platypterus, B. jamaicensis, and C. cyaneus hudsonius all collected in North America. The development of the plerocercoid of both species is described. Natural infections with the plerocercoid of C. circi, are reported from Peromyscus maniculatus sonoriensis, and with the plerocercoid of C. globifera in the rodents, Clethrionomys gapperi, Napaeozapus insignis, Peromyscus maniculatus gracilis, P. leucopus noveboracensis, Tamias striatus, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, and the insectivore Sorex cinereus. The ratio of the length of the hook to length of guard of the large hooks of Cladolaenia is less than 3.5:1, whereas this ratio is more than 3.5:1 on the large rostellar hooks of Paruterina, which is considered a good criterion for distinguishing the plerocercoids of the two genera.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 392-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher B. Goguen ◽  
Richard S. Fritsky ◽  
Gary J. San Julian

Abstract Brush piles have long been promoted as a means to enhance wildlife habitat, yet few studies have experimentally tested the perceived benefits of these structures for wildlife or evaluated the efficacy of different arrangements of these piles within landscapes. During summers 2005 and 2006, we used a mark–recapture study to compare small mammal abundance and survival in forested habitats provisioned with brush piles vs. similar habitats without, both at sites located adjacent to agricultural edges and within the interior of forests in central Pennsylvania. Northern short-tailed shrews Blarina brevicauda, mice Peromyscus, and eastern chipmunks Tamias striatus were all frequently captured within brush piles at edge and interior sites. Peromyscus were significantly more abundant at edge vs. interior sites. The presence of brush piles, however, seemed to have little effect on small mammal abundance or survival with the only potential effect being an increased overwinter survival rate experienced by Peromyscus at brush pile sites. We hypothesize that although brush piles provide cover and foraging sites for small mammals, the large quantities of coarse woody debris that exist naturally in many forested systems may already adequately provide these habitat features, minimizing the effects of brush piles on small mammal population dynamics.


1982 ◽  
Vol 60 (11) ◽  
pp. 2787-2797 ◽  
Author(s):  
John O. Whitaker Jr ◽  
Thomas W. French

Ectoparasites and other associates were examined from seven species of insectivores and nine species of rodents from Mount Carleton Provincial Park, New Brunswick. The most abundant forms found were (at least 2.0 per host individual) the following: Orycteroxenus soricis and Amorphacarus hengererorum on Sorex cinereus and on Sorex (Microsorex) hoyi; A. hengererorum and O. soricis on Sorex fumeus; O. soricis, Miyatrombicula esoensis, and Ixodes angustus on Sorex gaspensis; O. soricis, I. angustus, Pygmephorus horridus, and Protomyobia americana on Blarina brevicauda; M. esoensis, Protomyobia claparedei, and Glycyphagus hypudaei on Sorex palustris; Orycteroxenus canadensis, O. soricis, P. horridus, G. hypudaei, Ctenophthalmus pseudagyrtes, and Haemogamasus ambulans on Condylura cristata. More abundant ectoparasites of the rodents were as follows: G. hypudaei, Listrophorus mexicanus, M. esoensis, Neotrombicula harperi, and Radfordia lemnina on Clethrionomys gapperi; G. hypudaei, L. mexicanus, M. esoensis, N. harperi, and Laelaps kochi on Microtus chrotorrhinus; L. mexicanus, G. hypudaei, Radfordia hylandi, Laelaps alaskensis, M. esoensis, Polyplax alaskensis, L. kochi, N. harperi, and Myocoptes j. japonensis on Microtus pennsylvanicus; Listrophorus synaptomys, Hoplopleura acanthopus, L. alaskensis, G. hypudaei, M. esoensis, I. angustus, R. hylandi, and N. harperi on Synaptomys cooperi; all of these except the last one on Synaptomys borealis; M. esoensis on Peromyscus maniculatus; Dermacarus newyorkensis on Zapus hudsonius; D. newyorkensis, N. harperi, Radfordia ewingi, and G. hypudaei on Napaeozapus insignis; Dermacarus hylandi, N. harperi, Megabothris acerbus, and M. esoensis on Tamias striatus.


2003 ◽  
Vol 117 (2) ◽  
pp. 245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark A. Edwards ◽  
Graham J. Forbes

Most research pertaining to the diet of North American weasels has been conducted in agricultural areas and may not be representative of diets in forested regions. Ermine carcasses (N = 155) collected from trappers during a two-week harvest (16-30 November 1996) in forested New Brunswick were analyzed for food habits. The contents of 81 stomachs and 98 gastrointestinal tracts (N = 179) were considered as separate eating events and used in the calculation of the percent frequency of occurrence. Results suggest that soricids (28.0%), arvicolines (24.6%), and cricetines (17.3%) comprised two-thirds of their autumn diet. At a species or genus level, the Deer Mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) (17.3%) and shrews (Sorex spp.) (28.0%) were shown to have the highest percent occurrence. Squirrels, including the Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) and the Eastern Chipmunk (Tamius striatus), comprised 11.2% of the Ermine’s diet; a value higher than has previously been reported.


2013 ◽  
Vol 127 (1) ◽  
pp. 57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jocelin N. Teron ◽  
Leonard J. Hutchison

Faecal matter collected from the American Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) and the Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) on the campus of Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, was examined for the presence of consumed fungal tissue. A total of 14 faecal samples were collected from live-trapped animals over six trapping periods (19 June to 25 September 2010). Eight samples contained intact remains of spores representative of hypogeous truffle fungi found in the genera Elaphomyces, Gautieria, Hymenogaster, Hysterangium, and Leucangium, as well as spores of epigeous mushrooms found in the orders Boletales and Pezizales and possibly in the family Tricholomataceae of the Agaricales. The results of this brief survey suggest not only the importance of mycophagy in the diet of American Red Squirrels and Eastern Chipmunks in the boreal mixed wood forests of northwestern Ontario but also the important role played by sciurids in vectoring spores of truffle fungi in this region.


2005 ◽  
Vol 119 (3) ◽  
pp. 456
Author(s):  
Robert W. Nero

On 2 November 2003, a freshly killed Short-tailed Shrew found beneath a bird feeder was likely the victim of an aggressive locally-resident Red Squirrel. The minimal amount of snow cover at the time is hypothesized to have prevented an escape such as had been observed in an encounter between these species in a previous year.


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