Removal trapping studies of dispersal in Peromyscus leucopus
Removal trapping was used to study the patterns of dispersal in a population of Peromyscus leucopus inhabiting old-growth eastern deciduous forest. Dispersers colonizing an artificial dispersal sink were biased toward males compared with nearby resident populations. Both male and female dispersers were biased toward younger, nonreproductive classes. There was no relationship between the number of dispersers or the rate of dispersal and density. In comparison with previous studies of dispersal in these same populations, removal trapping appeared to confirm the lack of any significant relationship between dispersal and density. However, it is apparent that removal trapping studies induce mice to disperse that otherwise might not have moved.