scholarly journals Changes within Small Mammal Communities since the 1988 Huckleberry Mountain Fire

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 19-27
Author(s):  
M. Burt ◽  
R. Seville ◽  
Zachary Roehrs ◽  
Rachel Henley
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammal ◽  
Natural Disturbance ◽  
Diversity Indices ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Pocket Gopher ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Sorex Cinereus ◽  
Small Mammal Communities ◽  
Mammal Communities ◽  
Over Time

This study is a continuation of investigations conducted at Huckleberry Mountain to determine the effect of the 1988 Greater Yellowstone fire on the small mammal community, and document changes in this community over the 22 years since this natural disturbance. Previous research was conducted in 1993, 1994, 1997, and 1998 and we sampled the same communities in 2009 and again in 2010 using the identical sampling methodology. During the summer of 2010 we live trapped 252 Southern Red-backed Vole (Myodes gapperi), 57 North American Deermouse (Peromyscus maniculatu), 22 Least Chipmunk (Tamias minimus), 12 Western Jumping Mouse (Zapus princeps), four Montane Vole (Microtus montanus), one Northern Pocket Gopher (Thomomys talpoides), four Cinereus Shrew (Sorex cinereus), and five Dusky Shrew (S. monticolus). These results are similar to our results from 2009 and corroborate findings from other investigations indicating early dominance of P. maniculatus in burned forests and M. gapperi in control unburned areas. M. gapperi and P. maniculatus accounted for the majority (87%) of captures. In addition more M. gapperi were found in control sites than P. maniculatus, and as the burned habitat recovers over time, the relative numbers of P. maniculatus are decreasing, and the number of M. gapperi are increasing, suggesting that the burned habitats are returning to a more natural pre-disturbance community structure. However, community diversity indices (which include all mammal species and their relative proportions) suggest that there are still considerable differences between burned and unburned sites. Despite the numbers of voles and deermice changing over time (as predicted), the burned and control small mammal communities are still quite different from one another even after 22 years.

Revisiting the late Pleistocene mammal extinction record at Tight Entrance Cave, southwestern Australia

2011 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Tyler Faith ◽  
James F. O'Connell
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Large Mammal ◽  
Southwestern Australia ◽  
Drying Trend ◽  
Small Mammal Communities ◽  
Mammal Communities

AbstractTight Entrance Cave (TEC) in southwestern Australia provides a Pleistocene sequence documenting the extinction of 14 large mammal species. This record has been interpreted as indicating that extinctions did not occur during or before the penultimate glacial maximum (PGM) and that humans played a primary role in the extinctions. However, it remains possible that the majority of extinct megafauna persisted no later than the PGM. The TEC extinctions correspond with vegetation change, a cooling/drying trend, increased biomass burning, and increasingly unstable small mammal communities. The initiation of these trends predates human arrival on the continent and implies environmentally mediated extinctions.

A Comparison of Grid and Index-Line Trapping Methods for Small Mammal Surveys

1988 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 673 ◽  
Author(s):  
VT Read ◽  
KWJ Malafant ◽  
K Myers
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammal ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Field Site ◽  
Index Line ◽  
Sampling Intensity ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Trapping Methods ◽  
Small Mammal Communities ◽  
Mammal Communities

An investigation is made of trapping methods used to survey small mammal communities in Australia. Assessment is made of sampling configuration and intensity by comparing combinations of those variables at a field site on Blundells Creek in the Brindabella Range, A.C.T. Indices of diversity were used to analyse capture data. These show that capture data from traps set in a grid configuration are highly sensitive to sampling intensity and are unlikely to represent the true community diversity. In contrast, capture data from traps set along index-lines are relatively immune to sampling intensity differences and closely measure true community diversity.

scholarly journals Mow the Grass at the Mouse’s Peril: Diversity of Small Mammals in Commercial Fruit Farms

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linas Balčiauskas ◽  
Laima Balčiauskienė ◽  
Vitalijus Stirkė
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Plant Protection ◽  
Common Vole ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Small Mammal Communities ◽  
The Common ◽  
Mammal Communities ◽  
Mammal Diversity

Small mammals are not only pests but also an important part of agricultural ecosystems. The common vole is a reference species for risk assessment of plant protection products in the European Union, but no data about the suitability of the species in the Baltic countries are present so far. Using the snap-trap line method, we evaluated species composition, abundance, and diversity of small mammal communities in commercial orchards and berry plantations in Lithuania, testing the predictions that (i) compared with other habitats, small mammal diversity in fruit farms is low, and (ii) the common vole is the dominant species. The diversity of small mammals was compared with control habitats and the results of investigations in other habitats. Out of ten small mammal species registered, the most dominant were common vole and striped field mouse. Small mammal diversity and abundance increased in autumn and decreased in line with the intensity of agricultural practices but were not dependent on crop type. In the most intensively cultivated fruit farms, small mammals were not found. The diversity of small mammal communities in fruit farms was significantly higher than in crop fields and exceeded the diversities found in most types of forests except those in rapid succession.

scholarly journals Long-Term Response of Small Mammal Communities to the 1988 Huckleberry Mountain Fire

2009 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 81-87
Author(s):  
M. Burt ◽  
R. Seville ◽  
Wayne Cummings ◽  
Rebecca Zook
Keyword(s):  
Deer Mouse ◽  
Diversity Indices ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Pocket Gopher ◽  
Microtus Montanus ◽  
Thomomys Talpoides ◽  
Greater Yellowstone Area ◽  
And Control ◽  
Mammal Communities

Biologists have long been interested in the response of small mammals and their habitat following natural disturbances. The Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) fires of 1988 have provided opportunities to study short and long term responses. This study continues investigations conducted in the 1990’s following identical methodology at the same sites now 21 years post-fire. We live trapped 256 Clethrionomys gapperi (Red-backed Vole), 116 Peromyscus maniculatus (Deer Mouse), 44 Tamius minimus (Least Chipmunk), 28 Zapus princeps (Western Jumping Mouse), two Microtus montanus (Montane Vole), 1 Thomomys talpoides (Northern Pocket Gopher) and 37 shrews (Sorex ssp.). These results support findings from other investigations regarding the initial early dominance of P. maniculatus in burn areas and C. gapperi in control or non-burn areas, and as time has progressed since the burn, differences between burn and control sites (as measured by community diversity indices) has decreased. As expected calculated Shannon diversity indices (H’) in 2009 are higher for at least one of the burn sites than in previous years as the habitat recovers to pre-burn conditions.

Small mammal communities in a pyrogenic habitat mosaic

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl W. Larsen ◽  
Ian T. Adams ◽  
Diane L. Haughland
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammal ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Forest Harvesting ◽  
Deer Mice ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Habitat Mosaic ◽  
Small Mammal Community ◽  
Small Mammal Communities ◽  
Mammal Communities

We studied the small mammal community across a mosaic of habitats created by a large wildfire in the mixed-wood boreal forest of Alberta, Canada, 5 years after the fire occurred. We focussed on four habitat types within this landscape mosaic, namely burnt stands, stands of unburnt forest within the burn, unburnt forest on the periphery of the fire, and areas harvested before the fire (and subsequently burnt). The abundance of the two most common species – red-backed voles (Clethrionomys gapperi) and deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) – often differed inside v. outside the burn’s perimeter; however, reproduction, survival and abundance showed little to no correlation with habitat. Year-to-year changes in the relative abundance of these two species appeared greater within the burn’s periphery; the heterogeneity of the burnt landscape also supported a higher diversity of small mammal species than seen at the periphery. Comparison of our results with those collected by a coincidental study of forest harvesting suggests that the responses of the communities and populations of the animals to the two disturbance types were relatively similar. The value of long-term and chronosequence studies notwithstanding, detailed study of the wildlife communities shaped by individual wildfires improves our overall understanding of the ecological effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances.

scholarly journals Relation between small-mammal species composition and anthropic variables in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

2005 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 495-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Olifiers ◽  
R. Gentile ◽  
J. T. Fiszon
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Atlantic Forest ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Analysis Of Similarity ◽  
Tourism Activity ◽  
Small Mammal Communities ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Mammal Communities ◽  
Small Mammal Species

Anthropic activities are frequently related in many ways to forest fragmentation and alteration of natural communities. In this study, we correlate the presence of hunting, tourism activity, agriculture/pasturing, and the distance of the study sites to the nearest human residences with the species composition of small Atlantic forest mammals. To do this, we utilize a multiple regression analysis of similarity matrices. The presence of both agriculture/pasturing and human residences near the study sites proved to be determinant factors in species composition of small mammals of the studied areas. Working with socioeconomic variables related directly with the study site could be a reliable and a direct way to predict the influence of human presence and entailed activity on small mammal communities.

Spatial variation of small mammal communities in northwestern Argentina

Mammalia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofía d’ Hiriart ◽  
Gerardo Cueto ◽  
Pablo E. Ortiz ◽  
Pablo Teta ◽  
J. Pablo Jayat
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammal ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Species Abundance ◽  
Combined Effect ◽  
Species Variation ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Northwestern Argentina ◽  
Small Mammal Communities ◽  
Mammal Communities

Abstract Northwestern Argentina (NWA) is a region characterized by a complex geomorphology, and encompasses six ecoregions in a relatively small area. The environmental heterogeneity of NWA and the sensitivity of small mammals towards environmental and landscape changes constitute a good scenario to assess the factors that influence small mammal diversity patterns in the region. We studied small mammal communities obtained from pellet samples in 24 localities of NWA. We identified 50 non-volant small mammal species and obtained topographic, climate and land cover variables. Our results show that small mammal communities respond to environmental factors at a regional scale. Such variations were explained in different proportions by the geographic position of the collecting sites, landscape and climate. Furthermore, the combined effect of these factors was the main determinant of species abundance patterns. Our results support the need of large-scale approaches to study communities, since the explanations of the observed patterns are simpler and more general. We emphasize the importance of considering the combined effect of different environmental predictors, which allows determining the amount of species variation that is spatially structured, and within that, the amount of variation related to the influence of the measured environmental variables.

Composition and Diversity of Plant and Small Mammal Communities in Tebuthiuron-Treated Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)

1996 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 404-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kris H. Johnson ◽  
Richard A. Olson ◽  
Thomas D. Whitson
Keyword(s):  
Plant Community ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Application Rate ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Big Sagebrush ◽  
Small Mammal Communities ◽  
Specialist Species ◽  
Habitat Specialist Species ◽  
Mammal Communities

Sagebrush control has historically involved mechanical and chemical (2,4-D) treatments designed for total control and which detrimentally affect nontarget plant species, resulting in decreases in native wildlife abundance and diversity. Tebuthiuron, a potentially selective herbicide with thinning capabilities, was applied at various rates to big sagebrush plots near Ten Sleep, WY in 1979 and Hyatteville, WY in 1983. Plant and small mammal communities were evaluated in 1992 and 1993. Big sagebrush cover in untreated areas was 31 ± 1% in 1992 and 34 ± 1% in 1993 at Ten Sleep, and 44 ± 4% at Hyatteville (α = 0.10). Big sagebrush control increased as application rate increased. Productivity of herbaceous species (graminoids, forbs, or both) tended to be greatest at about 11 to 17% big sagebrush cover. In general, plant community diversity tended to be greatest where sagebrush was thinned to this level. Small mammal community diversity was least at both sites where big sagebrush cover was less than 5%, and was strongly correlated with plant community diversity at Ten Sleep (R2W= 0.99; 4 degrees of freedom). In addition, greater abundance of or better habitat quality for endemic, stenotypic (habitat specialist) species was associated with about 15% big sagebrush cover. This suggests (albeit retroductively) that biodiversity at both local (alpha) and global (epsilon) scales might be conserved by thinning big sagebrush with tebuthiuron.

Effects of a stand-replacing fire on small-mammal communities in montane forest

2007 ◽  
Vol 85 (7) ◽  
pp. 815-822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafał Zwolak ◽  
Kerry R. Foresman
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammal ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Natural Disturbance ◽  
Deer Mice ◽  
Larix Occidentalis ◽  
Flying Squirrels ◽  
Neotoma Cinerea ◽  
Small Mammal Communities ◽  
Mammal Communities

Wildfire, ubiquitous and recurring over thousands of years, is the most important natural disturbance in northern coniferous forest. Accordingly, forest fires may exert a strong influence on the structure and functioning of small-mammal communities. We compared the composition of rodent and shrew communities in burned and unburned patches of a Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirbel) Franco) – western larch ( Larix occidentalis Nutt.) forest in western Montana, USA. Trapping was conducted during two consecutive summers after a wildfire. Four trapping sites were sampled in areas that burned at high severity and two in unburned forest. Small-mammal communities in burned sites were characterized by strong numerical dominance of deer mice ( Peromyscus maniculatus (Wagner, 1845)) and greatly reduced proportion of southern red-backed voles ( Clethrionomys gapperi (Vigors, 1830)) and red-toothed shrews (genus Sorex L., 1758). Relatively rare species such as northern flying squirrels ( Glaucomys sabrinus (Shaw, 1801)) and bushy-tailed woodrats ( Neotoma cinerea (Ord, 1815)) were largely restricted to unburned areas. The numbers of chipmunks (genus Tamias Illiger, 1811) were similar in burned and unburned areas. Rodent diversity was higher in unburned forest, but only during the 1st year after fire. Overall, the fire shifted small-mammal communities away from more specialized red-backed voles and shrews and towards greater abundance of generalist deer mice.

The influence of spring floods on small mammal communities in the Nemunas River Delta, Lithuania

Biologia ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Linas Balčiauskas ◽  
Laima Balčiauskienė ◽  
Agnė Janonytė
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Diversity Index ◽  
River Delta ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Environmental Agents ◽  
Small Mammal Communities ◽  
High Flood ◽  
Mammal Communities

AbstractThe influence of the annual spring floods on small mammal communities was studied in the Nemunas River Delta, SW Lithuania. The aim of the investigation was to compare the diversity of small mammals inhabiting spring-flooded meadows, meadows not subjected to flooding and spring-flooded forest in years characterized by differing heights and durations of spring flood. In the years of the high flood, the number of species and diversity index were higher, while index of dominance was less than in the years of low flood. Significantly, the highest proportions of Apodemus agrarius were recorded in spring-flooded meadows in years of high flood (41.7%), while Microtus oeconomus occurred in the highest proportions in spring-flooded meadows in years of low flood (66.8%) and in meadows not subjected to flooding (47.1%). In non-flooded areas, M. Oeconomus is not expelled by the floods and outcompetes other species. After high levels of flooding, during the process of re-population, the voles may be outcompeted by A. agrarius. In the absence of dominant species, greater opportunities existed for the establishment of more species (13 species in flooded meadows). Micromys minutus accounted for up to 19.5–30.1% in the years of high flood. We concluded that the annual spring floods in the Nemunas Delta had no long-term negative effects, the number of small mammal species and their abundance had been restored in just a few months. The worst consequences of the high flood were recorded in forest habitat. Spring floods, and especially the higher floods, are natural environmental agents, maintaining the high diversity of small mammals in meadows and reed-beds.

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