Small Mammal Abundance and Distribution: Response of Rodents to Brush Piles in Clearcut Landscapes (2010)

Undergraduate: Ronny Forney

Faculty Advisor: Peter White
Department: Biology

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The quality of habitat is an important component to the survival of small mammals. My objective was to determine the abundance and distribution and habitat preference of small rodents in different landscapes at Mason Farm Biological Reserve. My goal was to test experimentally whether small mammals were utilizing the brush piles, and which species. I hypothesized that small mammals would use or inhabit the brush piles and be trapped there more frequently than in any other type of cover, including tall grass or trees. I utilized two landscapes, a wet meadow with short sedge and brush piles throughout, and a drier meadow with tall broom sedge. Both plots were designed to be 25 m from the road and were 70 m x 30 m grids. I used a mark and recapture method because this method is effective in determining the abundance and distribution of a species or several species. During the course of my study, I trapped one animal – Peromyscus leucopus (White-footed deer mouse). While only one live animal was caught, there was evidence of other rodents in several of the traps. Because of the limited amount of data, it was difficult to determine whether the capture of the Peromyscus leucopus occurred by chance, or if there is an actual population of small mammals inhabiting the brush piles.