Patterns and scale of habitat use in two temperate-zone, small mammal faunas

1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (8) ◽  
pp. 1540-1547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas W. Morris
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Selection ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
Species Distribution ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Habitat Preference ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Microhabitat Use ◽  
Microhabitat Selection ◽  
Extinction Probabilities ◽  
Mammal Faunas

Small mammals were livetrapped and habitat quantified in replicates of six macrohabitats in Alberta and in temporal replicates of four macrohabitats in Ontario, Canada. Similar patterns emerged in both locations. The relative abundances of small mammals depended upon macrohabitat; within macrohabitats, species differed significantly in microhabitat use. The patterns were dynamic and probably the result of habitat preference instead of species interactions. Macrohabitat differences may in part be outcomes of microhabitat selection, but are unlikely to be completely understood without superimposing colonization and extinction probabilities on habitat selection models. Field biologists must recognize both scales of habitat to interpret patterns of species distribution.

scholarly journals Microhabitat of small mammals at ground and understorey levels in a deciduous, southern Atlantic Forest

2013 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 727-736 ◽  
Author(s):  
GERUZA L. MELO ◽  
BARBARA MIOTTO ◽  
BRISA PERES ◽  
NILTON C. CACERES
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Selection ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Animal Species ◽  
Deciduous Forest ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Microhabitat Use ◽  
Southern Brazil ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Didelphis Albiventris

Each animal species selects specific microhabitats for protection, foraging, or micro-climate. To understand the distribution patterns of small mammals on the ground and in the understorey, we investigated the use of microhabitats by small mammals in a deciduous forest of southern Brazil. Ten trap stations with seven capture points were used to sample the following microhabitats: liana, fallen log, ground litter, terrestrial ferns, simple-trunk tree, forked tree, and Piper sp. shrubs. Seven field phases were conducted, each for eight consecutive days, from September 2006 through January 2008. Four species of rodents (Akodon montensis, Sooretamys angouya, Oligoryzomys nigripes and Mus musculus) and two species of marsupials (Didelphis albiventris and Gracilinanus microtarsus) were captured. Captured species presented significant differences on their microhabitat use (ANOVA, p = 0.003), particularly between ground and understorey sites. Akodon montensis selected positively terrestrial ferns and trunks, S. angouya selected lianas, D. albiventris selected fallen trunks and Piper sp., and G. microtarsus choose tree trunks and lianas. We demonstrated that the local small-mammal assemblage does select microhabitats, with different types of associations between species and habitats. Besides, there is a strong evidence of habitat selection in order to diminish predation.

scholarly journals Jungpleistozäne und altholozäne Fauna (Gastropoda und Mammalia) vom Euerwanger Bühl bei Greding (Fränkischer Jura)

1975 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-180
Author(s):  
Wighart V. Koenigswald ◽  
Wolfgang Rähle
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Age Dating ◽  
Southern Germany ◽  
Last Glacial ◽  
Mammal Faunas ◽  
The Last Glacial

Abstract. Small mammals and gastropod faunas out of a collapsed cave were quantitatively and qualitatively studied. One complex belongs to the last glacial, the others to the early holocene, or precicely Preboreal and early Boreal according to C14 age dating. Early holocene small mammal faunas in southern Germany are represented by Pitymys subterraneus as well as pleistocene relict forms. The gastropod fauna contains Zebrina detrita in a typical Discus ruderatus / Nesovitrea petronella fauna.

Local extinction and nestedness of small-mammal faunas in fragmented forest of central Victoria, Australia

1998 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 122 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. N. Deacon ◽  
R. Mac Nally
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Fragment Size ◽  
Timber Harvesting ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Fragmented Forest ◽  
Old Trees ◽  
Mammal Faunas

A survey of small mammals was undertaken in eight forest fragments of three sizes (2.5, 10 and 40 ha) and in five "pseudofragments" within a large area of State Forest. The latter were used to provide "reference" results against which the fragments could be compared. There was a paucity of dasyurid marsupials in fragments and pseudofragments, but arboreal "herbivores" (possums and a glider) were 7.5 times more abundant in fragments than in pseudofragments. The Short-beaked Echidna Tachyglossus aculeatus was recorded in both fragments and pseudofragments. All sites were impoverished, with a maximum of four native species of small mammals recorded at any one site, and six native species recorded overall. There was significant faunal "nesting" as a function of fragment size, with the small-mammal fauna of smaller fragments being subsets of larger fragments. The extant fauna in fragments appears to be a result of a sequence of local extinctions such that some species are more vulnerable to habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation and become locally extinct earlier than other, hardier species. The impoverishment within pseudofragments seems to be a function of broad-scale habitat modifications and especially timber harvesting, which maintains the forest as a dense array of small, pole-sized trees with few large, old trees. Several of the arboreal mammals are dependent on hollows found in larger trees, so the absence of the latter probably constrains the occurrence and density of the hollow users.

Small mammal assemblages from the Quaternary succession at Moriaanshoofd (Zeeland, the Netherlands) and their significance for correlating the Oosterschelde fauna

2014 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 119-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.F. Mayhew ◽  
F.E. Dieleman ◽  
A.A. Slupik ◽  
L.W. van den Hoek Ostende ◽  
J.W.F. Reumer
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Mammal Fauna ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Mammal Assemblages ◽  
Mammal Faunas

AbstractWe investigated fossil small mammals from a borehole near Moriaanshoofd (Zeeland, southwest Netherlands) in order to get better insights in the fossil mammal faunas that are found in the subsurface in the southwestern Netherlands, and to investigate the age and provenance of the mammal fauna that is being dredged from the deep tidal gullies in the nearby Oosterschelde estuary. The record in the borehole covers Gelasian (Early Pleistocene) to Holocene deposits, represented by six formations. Thirty-nine specimens of small mammals were obtained from the borehole. These fossils derived from the Early Pleistocene marine Maassluis Formation and from directly overlying deposits of a Late Pleistocene age. During Weichselian times (33–24 ka), a proto-Schelde River shaped the northern Oosterschelde area. The river reworked substantial amounts of Early and Middle Pleistocene deposits. At the base of the Schelde-derived fluvial sequence (regionally described as the Koewacht Formation), Gelasian vertebrate faunas were concentrated in the channel lag. The Late Pleistocene channel lag is almost certainly the main source for the rich Early Pleistocene vertebrate faunas with larger mammals dredged from the Oosterschelde.

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 Functional traits shape small mammal-helminth network: patterns and processes in species interactions

Parasitology ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Thiago dos Santos Cardoso ◽  
Cecilia Siliansky de Andreazzi ◽  
Arnaldo Maldonado Junior ◽  
Rosana Gentile
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Patterns And Processes ◽  
Network Patterns

Long-term stress level in a small mammal species undergoing range expansion

Mammalia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrien André ◽  
Johan Michaux ◽  
Jorge Gaitan ◽  
Virginie Millien
Keyword(s):  
Stress Level ◽  
Species Distribution ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Range Expansion ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Distribution Ranges ◽  
Northern Edge ◽  
Small Mammal Species ◽  
White Footed Mouse

Abstract Rapid climate change is currently altering species distribution ranges. Evaluating the long-term stress level in wild species undergoing range expansion may help better understanding how species cope with the changing environment. Here, we focused on the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), a widespread small mammal species in North-America whose distribution range is rapidly shifting northward. We evaluated long-term stress level in several populations of P. leucopus in Quebec (Canada), from the northern edge of the species distribution to more core populations in Southern Quebec. We first tested the hypothesis that populations at the range margin are under higher stress than more established populations in the southern region of our study area. We then compared four measures of long-term stress level to evaluate the congruence between these commonly used methods. We did not detect any significant geographical trend in stress level across our study populations of P. leucopus. Most notably, we found no clear congruence between the four measures of stress level we used, and conclude that these four commonly used methods are not equivalent, thereby not comparable across studies.

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