Long-Term Dynamics and Biodiversity Changes in Small Mammal Communities in a Mosaic of Agricultural and Forest Habitats

2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 263-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michał Kozakiewicz ◽  
Anna Kozakiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammal ◽  
Small Mammal Communities ◽  
Biodiversity Changes ◽  
Mammal Communities ◽  
Forest Habitats

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.

Comparison of small-mammal community responses to broadcast burning and herbicide application in cutover forest habitats

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 462-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P. Sullivan ◽  
Jacob O. Boateng
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Deer Mouse ◽  
Control Treatment ◽  
Herbicide Application ◽  
Habitat Alterations ◽  
Small Mammal Communities ◽  
Treatment Comparisons ◽  
Mammal Communities ◽  
Forest Habitats

This study was designed to compare the responses of small-mammal communities to broadcast burning and herbicide-induced alteration of forest habitats. Study areas were located in south-coastal British Columbia, Canada, in the Coastal Western Hemlock (CWHdm) biogeoclimatic zone, and in west-central British Columbia in the Sub-boreal Spruce (SBSmk) and Engelmann Spruce–Subalpine Fir (ESSFmc) zones. Control–treatment comparisons for a herbicide application or a broadcast burning treatment were conducted at the coastal study area from 1982 to 1984. Replicate control–treatment comparisons between these two silvicultural practices were conducted at the interior study area within the period 1989 to 1992. Small-mammal populations were intensively livetrapped in all control and treatment blocks. Deer mouse (Peromyscusmaniculatus Wagner) populations showed short-term (1–2 months) declines after treatments at the coastal study area but appeared little affected by these habitat alterations at the interior area. Voles of the genus Microtus disappeared from burned blocks at the interior area but Microtusoregoni (Merriam) persisted on the burned block at the coastal area; however, the red-backed vole (Clethrionomysgapperi Vigors) did not. Chipmunks (Eutamiastownsendii Bachman and Eutamiasamoenus Allen) were little affected by either treatment. Neither treatment seemed to affect species diversity of these small-mammal communities. In terms of abundance of small-mammal populations, it is likely that broadcast burning is a more extreme means of habitat alteration than herbicide treatment.

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

1997 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 64-68
Author(s):  
R. Seville ◽  
Nancy Stanton ◽  
David Spildie
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammal ◽  
Boreal Forests ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Large Mammals ◽  
Small Mammal Communities ◽  
Microhabitat Preferences ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Mammal Communities ◽  
Term Response

Natural burns are common in the boreal forests of the Rocky Mountains. While a considerable amount of research has focused on post-burn responses of vegetation and, more recently, large mammals, there have been few studies on responses of small mammal communities in these forests. The primary objective of this study was to revisit study sites on Huckleberry Mountain established immediately following the 1988 Yellowstone fires (Stanton et al., 1991, 1992; Spildie, 1994) to assess small mammal population trends, community structure, and microhabitat preferences on adjacent burned and unburned study sites 9 years post-burn.

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