scholarly journals Do dense layers of invasive plants elevate the foraging intensity of small mammals in temperate deciduous forests? A case study from Pennsylvania, USA

NeoBiota ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 73-88
Author(s):  
Ryan M. Utz ◽  
Alysha Slater ◽  
Hannah R. Rosche ◽  
Walter P. Carson
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Design ◽  
Invasive Plants ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Capture Rate ◽  
Tree Seedling ◽  
Invasive Shrub ◽  
Temperate Deciduous ◽  
Temperate Deciduous Forests ◽  
Capture Rates

Monospecific stands of invasive plants can dramatically restructure habitat for fauna, thereby elevating population densities or promoting foraging of consumer species who benefit in the altered habitat. For example, dense stands of invasive plants may protect small mammals from predators, which in turn could increase foraging pressure on seeds that small mammals feed upon. We used a before-after, control-impact experimental design to test whether small mammal capture rates were higher and giving-up densities (GUDs) lower beneath dense stands of Berberis thunbergii, an invasive shrub with a rapidly expanding range throughout eastern North America. Our experimental design included three plot categories: 1) plots heavily invaded by B. thunbergii, 2) control plots lacking invasive shrub cover, and 3) invaded plots where we eradicated B. thunbergii midway through the study. Although our overall small mammal capture rate was low, small mammal captures were 65% higher in B. thunbergii invaded habitat relative to control plots and eradication lowered capture rates by 77%. GUDs were also 26% higher within B. thunbergii relative to control plots and eradication decreased GUDs by 65%. Our findings suggest that small mammals perceive dense stands of B. thunbergii as relatively safe foraging habitat. Prior surveys within our study locations revealed dramatically depressed tree seedling densities under B. thunbergii, thus invasive plants may promote intensive foraging by small mammals and reduce recruitment for species with foraged seeds or seedlings.

The scientific, financial and ethical implications of three common wildlife-trapping designs

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen P. Waudby ◽  
Sophie Petit ◽  
Matthew J. Gill
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Capture Rate ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Small Mammal Species ◽  
Capture Rates

Abstract ContextTrapping design influences information collected about wildlife populations and biodiversity. Trapping is also resource-intensive and has animal welfare implications. AimsThe scientific, financial and ethical performances of three trap designs were compared for estimating diversity and sampling small vertebrates. MethodsSmall vertebrates were trapped over 16 trapping sessions, from April 2009 to May 2011, with aluminium box-style (Elliott) traps and two pitfall trap designs (shallow–wide and deep–narrow), in an arid environment. Key resultsShallow pitfalls recorded highest overall species richness (S=22) and diversity (qD=10.622), reptile diversity (qD=8.112) and reptile capture rates (13.600 individuals per 100 trap nights). Shallow and deep pitfalls sampled ~79.0% and 85.0% (respectively) more small mammals than did Elliott traps. Deep pitfalls sampled the greatest diversity (qD=6.017) and number (29.700 individuals per 100 trap nights) of small mammals, and captured the greatest number of small mammal species (0.003) and individuals (0.106) per dollar. Shallow pitfalls were the most cost-efficient trap type for sampling reptile species (0.003) and individuals (0.044) per dollar. Between-session recapture rates were greatest in Elliott traps, indicating an increased likelihood of biased capture rates for certain small mammal species over time. Elliott traps were the least efficient traps on most scientific and cost measures, and recorded the greatest overall recapture rates, particularly for Sminthopsis crassicaudata and S. macroura. Body size of one species only, the nationally threatened Pseudomys australis, influenced its capture rate, with larger individuals more likely to be caught in deep pitfalls. Mortality was highest in pitfalls and mostly related to interactions between animals caught in the same trap. Key conclusionsShallow pitfalls are suitable for studies focused on estimating species richness, and reptile diversity and abundance. Deep pitfalls are cost-effective for sampling small mammals. Ethical issues associated with pitfalls could be managed by checking traps more often at night, and/or including materials that provide increased protection from predators caught in the same trap, particularly during periods of high abundance. ImplicationsTrap design profoundly influences cost-effectiveness and welfare outcomes of wildlife research. We provide a tool to assist cost-benefit related decisions.

scholarly journals BAIT PREFERENCES BY DIFFERENT SMALL MAMMAL ASSEMBLAGES FOR EFFECTIVE CAGE-TRAPPING

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Farah Shafawati Mohd-Taib ◽  
Siti Nabilah Ishak
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Oil Palm ◽  
Peanut Butter ◽  
Sweet Potatoes ◽  
Palm Fruit ◽  
Butter Oil ◽  
Salted Fish ◽  
Mammal Assemblages ◽  
Capture Rates

The ecological study of small mammals often uses the cage-trapping method, installed with baits. Capture rates vary according to different baits used. We want to determine the bait preferences by different small mammal groups. The cage-trapping approach used common domestic bait types available, namely, aromatic banana, sweet potato with peanut butter, oil palm fruit, dried salted fish, jackfruit, and roasted coconut flesh. Sampling was conducted in three different habitat categories, namely urban, semi-urban, and recreational forests, located in Selangor, Malaysia, for one year. A total of 537 small mammals from 15 species were sampled, which was then grouped into seven groups (i.e., Rattus sp., Maxomys sp., Sundamys sp., Leopaldamys sabanus, Suncus murinus, squirrels, and Tupaia glis). Bait preferences were significantly different among the different small mammal groups, i.e., F (6,35) = 5.621, p = 0.000, with bananas shown to be most preferred bait, followed by oil palm fruits and sweet potatoes. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) analysis revealed that the Rattus species encompassed the most diverse bait preference, while S. murinus and L. sabanus were the most selective. Muridae preferred sweet potatoes with peanut butter over bananas, while Sciuridae and Tupaiidae preferred bananas, and Soricidae preferred dried salted fish. This study elucidates the most effective bait selection for different small mammal assemblages, serving as a guide to increase capture rates when sampling targeted population of small mammals. Apart from that, it is helpful for effective rodent pest control.

scholarly journals Relative abundance of the Prairie Long-tailed Weasel (Mustela frenata longicauda) in southwestern Alberta

2013 ◽  
Vol 127 (2) ◽  
pp. 131
Author(s):  
Garry E. Hornbeck ◽  
Dan Soprovich
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Peromyscus Maniculatus ◽  
Capture Probability ◽  
Deer Mice ◽  
Microtus Spp ◽  
Capture Rates

Prairie Long-tailed Weasels (Mustela frenata longicauda) were live-trapped during fall 2005, 2006, and 2007 at Pine Coulee Reservoir and during fall 2005, 2008, and 2010 at Twin Valley Reservoir in southwestern Alberta. Our objective was to estimate the relative abundance of the Long-tailed Weasel and to estimate the relative abundance of small mammal prey. Body size and capture rates are reported for Long-tailed Weasels, and we report capture rates of small mammals. Annual capture rates for Long-tailed Weasels at Pine Coulee Reservoir were 0.44, 0.41, and 0.50 individuals per 100 corrected trap-nights (0.42, 0.38, and 0.48 individuals/100 trap-nights) in 2005, 2006, and 2007, respectively. No Long-tailed Weasels were captured at Twin Valley Reservoir. The probability of capturing zero Long-tailed Weasels at Twin Valley Reservoir was very low, assuming a true capture probability equivalent to that observed at Pine Coulee Reservoir. Deer Mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) were the most abundant small mammals captured in both project areas. Few shrews (Sorex spp.) and voles (Microtus spp.) were captured in either area.

Temperate deciduous forests embedded across developed landscapes: Younger forests harbour invasive plants and urban forests maintain native plants

2020 ◽  
Vol 108 (6) ◽  
pp. 2366-2375
Author(s):  
Tara L. E. Trammell ◽  
Vince D'Amico ◽  
Meghan L. Avolio ◽  
J. Christina Mitchell ◽  
Eric Moore
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Plants ◽  
Native Plants ◽  
Urban Forests ◽  
Deciduous Forests ◽  
Temperate Deciduous ◽  
Temperate Deciduous Forests

Invasive shrubs modify rodent activity timing, revealing a consistent behavioral rule governing diel activity

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 1069-1075 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter W Guiden ◽  
John L Orrock
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Plants ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Community Diversity ◽  
Diel Activity ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Invasive Shrub ◽  
Animal Activity

Abstract Animals adjust the timing of their activity to maximize benefits, such as access to resources, and minimize costs, such as exposure to predators. Despite many examples of invasive plants changing animal behavior, the potential for invasive plants to alter the timing of animal activity remains unexplored. In eastern North America, invasive shrubs might have particularly strong effects on animal activity timing during spring and fall, when many invasive shrubs retain their leaves long after native species’ leaves senesce. We experimentally removed an invasive shrub (buckthorn, Rhamnus cathartica) and monitored the activity timing of a ubiquitous small-mammal species (white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus) in spring, summer, and fall. We captured nearly 3 times as many P. leucopus in plots invaded by R. cathartica compared with plots with R. cathartica removed, and P. leucopus were captured 2 h earlier in invaded plots. Regardless of invasion treatment, P. leucopus appear to follow a common rule to set activity timing: P. leucopus were only active below a threshold of ground-level moonlight illuminance (0.038 lux). Diel and monthly lunar cycles play an important role in regulating small-mammal activity, but our data suggest that decreased light penetration dampens the influence of moonlight illuminance in habitats invaded by R. cathartica, allowing P. leucopus to remain active throughout the night. By changing the temporal niche of ubiquitous native animals, invasive shrubs may have unappreciated effects on many ecological interactions, including processes that alter community diversity and affect human health.

scholarly journals Influence of invasive shrubs and deer browsing on regeneration in temperate deciduous forests

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey S. Ward ◽  
Scott C. Williams ◽  
Megan A. Linske
Keyword(s):  
Forest Regeneration ◽  
Synergistic Effects ◽  
Deer Browsing ◽  
Regeneration Failure ◽  
Invasive Shrub ◽  
Comprehensive Management ◽  
Deer Herbivory ◽  
Competitive Interference ◽  
Temperate Deciduous ◽  
Temperate Deciduous Forests

While both chronic white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann) overbrowsing and invasive shrubs have been linked to native regeneration failure in temperate hardwood forests, little is known of their relative importance and possible synergistic effects. Therefore, we established three study areas in Connecticut to examine the interaction of three levels of invasive shrub control and absence or presence of deer herbivory on forest regeneration over 9 years. Five observations suggest that obtaining forest regeneration requires a comprehensive management strategy. First, competitive interference by invasive shrubs in intact thickets continued to impede forest regeneration, especially taller seedlings, after deer were excluded. Second, density of small seedlings increased following removal of the competitive interference by invasive shrubs. Third, deer browsing depressed growth of small seedlings into taller height classes. Fourth, preferential browsing reduced species richness, especially in taller seedling classes, by favoring growth of low palatability species such as beech. Lastly, if a disturbance (e.g., cutting) does not kill the root system of the invasive shrubs, the window of forest regeneration recruitment may be narrow because invasive shrubs can quickly recover. In stands with both established shrub thickets and high deer densities, invasive shrub control and multiyear reduction of deer densities are both recommended to obtain adequate forest regeneration.

Understory use by terrestrial small mammals in an unflooded forest patch in the Pantanal floodplain

Mammalia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nayara Yoshie Sano ◽  
Heitor Miraglia Herrera ◽  
Grasiela Edith de Oliveira Porfirio ◽  
Filipe Martins Santos
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Understory Vegetation ◽  
Monodelphis Domestica ◽  
Forest Patch ◽  
Habitat Features ◽  
Species Characteristics ◽  
Local Habitat

AbstractTo date, there have been no studies that have evaluated small mammal utilization of the understory of forests. In this study, we described the use of vertical strata by small mammals in patches of unflooded forests, known as “cordilheiras”, in the Nhecolândia sub-region of the Pantanal, Brazil. We collected all species using the ground and understory, including the terrestrial didelphid Monodelphis domestica. We suppose that local habitat features (e.g., Acuri palms), rather than intrinsic species characteristics, may be more conducive to the use of understory vegetation by small mammals in the Nhecolândia region.

scholarly journals Diversity and Diet Differences of Small Mammals in Commensal Habitats

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 346
Author(s):  
Linas Balčiauskas ◽  
Laima Balčiauskienė ◽  
Andrius Garbaras ◽  
Vitalijus Stirkė
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Trophic Ecology ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Additional Food ◽  
Δ13c And Δ15n ◽  
Degree Of Separation ◽  
Kitchen Gardens ◽  
Dietary Plasticity ◽  
The Stability

The stability of diversity of syntopic (inhabiting the same habitat in the same time) small mammals in commensal habitats, such as farmsteads and kitchen gardens, and, as a proxy of their diet, their isotopic niches, was investigated in Lithuania in 2019–2020. We tested whether the separation of species corresponds to the trophic guilds, whether their diets are related to possibilities of getting additional food from humans, and whether their diets are subject to seasonal trends. We analyzed diversity, dominance and distribution of hair δ13C and δ15N values. Diversity and dominance was not stable and differed according to human influence. The highest small mammal species richness occurred in commensal habitats that provided additional food. The degree of separation of species was higher in homestead habitats than in kitchen gardens, where a 1.27 to 35.97% overlap of isotopic niches was observed between pairs of species. Temporal changes in δ13C and δ15N values in the hair of the mammals were not equally expressed in different species. The isotopic overlap may depend on dietary plasticity, minimizing interspecific competition and allowing co-existence of syntopic species. Thus, small mammal trophic ecology is likely related to intensity of agricultural activities in the limited space of commensal habitats.

Small mammal mycophagy in hemiboreal forest communities of Lithuania

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 446-456 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marija Kataržytė ◽  
Ernestas Kutorga
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Fungal Spores ◽  
Seasonal Effects ◽  
Deciduous Tree ◽  
Myodes Glareolus ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Hypogeous Fungi ◽  
Fecal Samples ◽  
Significant Difference

AbstractThe diets of small mammals in different hemiboreal spruce-dominated, oak-dominated and mixed forests in western part of Lithuania were studied by examination of fungal spores in fresh fecal pellets of caught animals. In the diets of mice (Apodemus spp.), bank voles (Myodes glareolus), and common and pygmy shrews (Sorex araneus and S. minutus), 22 different fungal taxa were identified, 15 of which were hypogeous fungi. The sporocarp abundance and the spores in fecal samples of Elaphomyces fungi prevailed in study area during this investigation. Although most of the captured individuals consumed fungi, the consumption varied among small mammal species. The data show that the fungi were more frequent and taxonomically diverse in Myodes glareolus than in Apodemus spp. diets. The study provided evidence that the fungal component in the diets of insectivorous Sorex species is more diverse than previously known. The availability of sporocarps and the fungal component in the diets of small mammals showed seasonal effects. Annual hypogeous and epigeous sporocarp abundances did not vary significantly across forest types. The significant difference in mycophagy was observed across all forest cover types, with the greatest fungal diversity in fecal samples collected in mixed coniferous-deciduous tree stands.

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