Abundance and ecological associations of small mammals. Issue 4 (3rd February 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Weldy, Matthew J.; Epps, Clinton W.; Lesmeister, Damon B.; Manning, Tom; Linnell, Mark A.; Forsman, Eric D.
• Is Part Of: Journal of wildlife management. Volume 83:Issue 4(2019)
• Page Start: 902
• Page End: 915
• Publication Date: 2019-02-03
• Subjects: Cascade Mountains -- deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) -- habitat -- Humboldt's flying squirrels (Glaucomys oregonensis) -- mark‐recapture -- Oregon -- population cycle -- Townsend's chipmunks (Neotamias townsendii) -- western red‐backed voles (Myodes californicus); Wildlife management -- Periodicals; Zoology -- Periodicals; 333.954
• DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.21641
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-541X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Effective conservation and management of small mammals require knowledge of the population dynamics of co‐occurring species. We estimated the abundances, autocorrelations, and spatiotemporal associations of 4 small‐mammal species from 2011–2016 using live‐trapping mark‐recapture methods on 9 sites across elevation and canopy openness gradients of a late‐successional forest in the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest, on the west slope of the Oregon Cascades. We also quantified species‐specific spatial variation in adult sex ratios and body mass. We used Huggins closed capture models to estimate site‐ and year‐specific abundances of 4 target species: Humboldt's flying squirrels ( Glaucomys oregonensis ), Townsend's chipmunks ( Neotamias townsendii ), western red‐backed voles ( Myodes californicus ), and deer mice ( Peromyscus maniculatus ). We estimated the temporal autocorrelations among site‐ and species‐specific abundance estimates and used generalized linear mixed effects models to investigate the effects of 7 spatiotemporal covariates on species‐specific mean abundance estimates. Species‐specific adult sex ratios, juvenile to adult ratios, and adult body masses were not widely variable among study sites. Abundance estimates varied by as much as 4‐fold among years and 6‐fold among sites. Humboldt's flying squirrel abundance was temporally autocorrelated at intervals of 1 and 5 years, Townsend's chipmunk abundance was temporally autocorrelated at intervals of 1–4 years, and western red‐backed vole abundance was temporally autocorrelated at 1, 4, and 5 years. Mean fall abundance estimates were associated with elevation and climate and in some cases, canopy openness and berry‐producing shrubs, but the direction of the association differed among species for some covariates. Our findings could provide additional management tools for small‐mammal abundance objectives, and highlight the importance of careful covariate selection in studies using indices of small‐mammal abundance. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of Wildlife Management Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Wildlife Society. Abstract : Using 6‐years of mark‐recapture live‐trapping data captured on 9 sites located within late successional forests on the foothills of the Oregon Cascades, USA, we estimated year‐ and site‐specific abundances and spatiotemporal abundance associations of 4 small‐mammal species. We determined that temporal variation in capture probability and abundance of the 4 species is underappreciated, and that the covariates most influential to the mean abundance of each study species varied despite sympatric covariate exposure.