Small Mammal

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Mario Díaz - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • The efficiency of two widely used commercial live-traps to develop monitoring protocols for Small Mammal biodiversity
    Ecological Indicators, 2016
    Co-Authors: Ignasi Torre, Lídia Freixas, Antoni Arrizabalaga, Mario Díaz
    Abstract:

    Biodiversity monitoring programs have been implemented worldwide as a source of information on ecosystem functioning. However, controversy concerning the indicators that should be monitored, and the development of adequate monitoring protocols for multi-species communities still hamper such implementation, especially in the case of Small Mammals. We analyze differences in the efficiency of the two most widely used commercial traps (Longworth and Sherman) working simultaneously in eight different mountain habitats in Andorra country (NE Iberia) as a first step for establishing standardized sampling protocols for species-rich Small Mammal communities. From summer 2008 to fall 2010 (six sampling occasions) we captured a total of 728 Small Mammal individuals (1445 including recaptures) of 13 species (12 in Longworth and 11 in Sherman, 10 species shared). Despite some specific biases (underestimation of two large species by Longworth traps and underestimation of one Small species by Sherman traps), estimates of community parameters and similarity indexes, sampling efficiency (number of Small Mammals trapped), detectability, mean weight, and sex-ratio of the most abundant species, were similar for both sampling methods. Our results suggested that both trap models could be used interchangeably – without relevant biases – in Small Mammal community assessments where large species are infrequent. Focussing monitoring programs on highly detectable Small Mammal species (common species) would allow the establishment of robust monitoring programs aimed at reducing the time invested and economic costs.

  • are recent changes in the terrestrial Small Mammal communities related to land use change a test using pellet analyses
    Ecological Research, 2015
    Co-Authors: Ignasi Torre, Antoni Arrizabalaga, Laura Graciaquintas, Jordi Baucells, Mario Díaz
    Abstract:

    Human-induced landscape changes are expected to have strong effects on the composition and structure of terrestrial Small Mammal communities (Orders Rodentia and Soricomorpha). However, testing such expectations is difficult due to low detectability of these animals. We used analyses of barn owl (Tyto alba) pellets sampled in the same roosting places during 1977–1991 and again in 2011–2014 to (a) document Small Mammal community changes and (b) relate them to changes in land use. Forest and synanthropic Small Mammals increased by a 7 % between both periods, whereas open-land species decreased by 13 %. Man-made loss (crops and meadows) and expansion (forest and urban) of relevant habitat types were closely related to these changes. Localities with land use changes opposite to the general trend showed also an opposite trend in Small Mammal community change. Land use heterogeneity increased and dominance decreased between both sampling periods, and this pattern was paralleled by an increasing trend in diversity and a decreasing trend in dominance in Small Mammal communities. Decreasing trends of some generalist northern species with restricted ranges may have been due to climate change. Diet monitoring of barn owls are thus valuable tools for both documenting and analyzing fine-grained Small Mammal responses to global change.

  • cattle grazing raptor abundance and Small Mammal communities in mediterranean grasslands
    Basic and Applied Ecology, 2007
    Co-Authors: Ignacio Torre, Mario Díaz, Jesus Martinezpadilla, Raul Bonal, Javier Vinuela, Juan A Fargallo
    Abstract:

    Abundance and diversity of Small Mammals are usually affected strongly by grazing either due to decreased food availability or quality, decreased suitability of soil for building burrow systems due to trampling and/or due to increased predation risk in the structurally simpler grazed areas. We estimated the effects of grazing-induced changes in vegetation and soil and of increased predation on Small Mammals in a Mediterranean grassland landscape. We measured vegetation structure, soil compaction and Small Mammal abundance and species composition in 22 plots of 8 Sherman live traps each, arranged according to an unbalanced two-way ANOVA design with two grazing levels (grazed areas and cattle exclosures) and two predator abundance levels (increased densities of Eurasian kestrels Falco tinnunculus by means of nest boxes and control). Plots were sampled during 2 consecutive years in early summer and early fall. Exclosure from cattle increased significantly vegetation height and volume and decreased soil compaction. Grazing-induced changes in vegetation height and volume and in soil compaction produced strong effects on Small Mammal abundance and species richness. Increased kestrel densities did not have significant additive or interactive effects, with the effects of grazing-induced vegetation and soil gradients on abundance or richness of Small Mammals. Our results suggest that the effects of grazing on Small Mammal communities in Mediterranean montane grasslands were mainly due to reduced food availability and by negative effects of trampling on the suitability of soils for building burrow systems. Decreased food quality and increased predation in grazed areas seemed to play a minor role, if any. Reductions in stock densities would then favor generalist predator populations in Mediterranean grasslands through the expected positive effects of such reductions on the availability of food and burrows for Small Mammals.

  • Small Mammal abundance in mediterranean post fire habitats a role for predators
    Acta Oecologica-international Journal of Ecology, 2004
    Co-Authors: Ignacio Torre, Mario Díaz
    Abstract:

    Abstract We studied patterns of Small Mammal abundance and species richness in post-fire habitats by sampling 33 plots (225 m 2 each) representing different stages of vegetation recovery after fire. Small Mammal abundance was estimated by live trapping during early spring 1999 and vegetation structure was sampled by visual estimation at the same plots. Recently–burnt areas were characterised by shrubby and herbaceous vegetation with low structural variability, and unburnt areas were characterised by well developed forest cover with high structural complexity. Small Mammal abundance and species richness decreased with time elapsed since the last fire (from 5 to at least 50 years), and these differences were associated to the decreasing cover of short shrubs as the post-fire succession of plant communities advanced. However, relationships between vegetation structure and Small Mammals differed among areas burned in different times, with weak or negative relationship in recently burnt areas and positive and stronger relationship in unburnt areas. Furthermore, the abundance of Small Mammals was larger than expected from vegetation structure in plots burned recently whereas the contrary pattern was found in unburned areas. We hypothesised that the pattern observed could be related to the responses of Small Mammal predators to changes in vegetation and landscape structure promoted by fire. Fire-related fragmentation could have promoted the isolation of forest predators (owls and carnivores) in unburned forest patches, a fact that could have produced a higher predation pressure for Small Mammals. Conversely, Small Mammal populations would have been enhanced in early post-fire stages by lower predator numbers combined with better predator protection in areas covered by resprouting woody vegetation.

Lara Souza - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Small Mammal herbivores mediate the effects of soil nitrogen and invertebrate herbivores on grassland diversity.
    Ecology and evolution, 2019
    Co-Authors: Nicole Poe, Katharine L. Stuble, Lara Souza
    Abstract:

    Simultaneous reductions in herbivore abundance and increases in nitrogen deposition have led to radical shifts in plant communities worldwide. While the individual impacts of these human-caused disturbances are apparent, few studies manipulate both herbivory and N, nor differentiate among herbivore guilds, to understand contingencies in the ability of these drivers to affect producer diversity and productivity. As such, understanding how the main and combined effects of increasing soil N with declining herbivores may influence plant community structure and function is critical to better understand the future of grassland ecosystems under multiple global change drivers.In this study, we asked: (a) What are the main effects of Small Mammal herbivores, invertebrate herbivores, and soil N on plant community structure and function? and (b) Are the effects of invertebrate herbivores and soil N on plant community structure and function contingent on Small Mammal herbivory? We used a nested design, with invertebrate and soil N treatments nested within Small Mammal manipulations in an existing tallgrass prairie. We measured plant community structure by quantifying plant richness, evenness, diversity, and composition across two full growing seasons. We also recorded total aboveground biomass to quantify grassland productivity.We found that Small Mammal herbivores strongly shaped plant diversity, species composition, and productivity. Small Mammal herbivores also mediated the effects of soil N and invertebrate herbivores on grassland community structure, but not composition or productivity. Small Mammal reduction lowered plant species richness while increasing aboveground biomass and altering compositional similarity. Invertebrate herbivores, in the presence of Small Mammals, promoted plant dominance by reducing evenness without altering compositional similarity. Additionally, soil nitrogen addition reduced plant richness, but only when Small Mammals were reduced, and no effects were detected on compositional similarity or productivity.Our findings provide further evidence that temperate grasslands can be strongly influenced by consumers, and that consumers mediate the effects of resources as well as other consumer guilds on producer evenness and richness. Taken together, we provide evidence of strong contingencies in the drivers of grassland structure, with Small Mammals directly altering plant diversity as well as mediating the effects of soil nitrogen and invertebrate herbivory on plant richness and evenness. Therefore, we suggest it is imperative to consider how consumer guilds and resource types may interact to shape grassland plant communities.

Nicole Poe - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Small Mammal herbivores mediate the effects of soil nitrogen and invertebrate herbivores on grassland diversity.
    Ecology and evolution, 2019
    Co-Authors: Nicole Poe, Katharine L. Stuble, Lara Souza
    Abstract:

    Simultaneous reductions in herbivore abundance and increases in nitrogen deposition have led to radical shifts in plant communities worldwide. While the individual impacts of these human-caused disturbances are apparent, few studies manipulate both herbivory and N, nor differentiate among herbivore guilds, to understand contingencies in the ability of these drivers to affect producer diversity and productivity. As such, understanding how the main and combined effects of increasing soil N with declining herbivores may influence plant community structure and function is critical to better understand the future of grassland ecosystems under multiple global change drivers.In this study, we asked: (a) What are the main effects of Small Mammal herbivores, invertebrate herbivores, and soil N on plant community structure and function? and (b) Are the effects of invertebrate herbivores and soil N on plant community structure and function contingent on Small Mammal herbivory? We used a nested design, with invertebrate and soil N treatments nested within Small Mammal manipulations in an existing tallgrass prairie. We measured plant community structure by quantifying plant richness, evenness, diversity, and composition across two full growing seasons. We also recorded total aboveground biomass to quantify grassland productivity.We found that Small Mammal herbivores strongly shaped plant diversity, species composition, and productivity. Small Mammal herbivores also mediated the effects of soil N and invertebrate herbivores on grassland community structure, but not composition or productivity. Small Mammal reduction lowered plant species richness while increasing aboveground biomass and altering compositional similarity. Invertebrate herbivores, in the presence of Small Mammals, promoted plant dominance by reducing evenness without altering compositional similarity. Additionally, soil nitrogen addition reduced plant richness, but only when Small Mammals were reduced, and no effects were detected on compositional similarity or productivity.Our findings provide further evidence that temperate grasslands can be strongly influenced by consumers, and that consumers mediate the effects of resources as well as other consumer guilds on producer evenness and richness. Taken together, we provide evidence of strong contingencies in the drivers of grassland structure, with Small Mammals directly altering plant diversity as well as mediating the effects of soil nitrogen and invertebrate herbivory on plant richness and evenness. Therefore, we suggest it is imperative to consider how consumer guilds and resource types may interact to shape grassland plant communities.

Bee Biaw Ang - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Non-volant Small Mammal community responses to fragmentation of kerangas forests in Brunei Darussalam
    Biodiversity and Conservation, 2010
    Co-Authors: Joseph K. Charles, Bee Biaw Ang
    Abstract:

    This paper summarises the effects of kerangas forest fragmentation on the non-volant Small Mammal community resident in the fragments based on a long term study conducted in Brunei Darussalam. These effects are shown as eight responses—a significant reduction in the species richness and diversity in relation to size of fragments, the disappearance of species with large home ranges and specific habitat requirements, invasion of generalists/opportunists into the fragments from degraded habitats, absence of predators, a possible reduction in the activity space of generalists in fragments, erosion in the trophic structure of the Small Mammal community, changes in the Small Mammal abundance in relation to fragment size and dominance of one species over other co-occurring species in an isolated fragment. These responses are briefly explained and their significance discussed.

Paolo Paolucci - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • The structure of Small Mammal communities in some alpine habitats
    Hystrix-italian Journal of Mammalogy, 1998
    Co-Authors: Roberta Locatelli, Paolo Paolucci
    Abstract:

    Abstract We studied the composition of several Small Mammal communities living in different mountain and forest habitats of the central eastern Italian Alps. The Small Mammals were then grouped together, by cluster analysis, according to similarities in species and density. From the 22 stations investigated, five groups emerged, each one having also distinct environmental characteristics. We observed that spruce forest communities are grouped separately from those of mixed forests (larch and Swiss stone pine). We must stress the considerable difference existing between the Small Mammal communities living in different kinds of coniferous forests. The larch and Swiss stone pine forest seem to be able to support a greater density of Small Mammals, which includes in particular the bank vole ( Clethrionomys glareolus ).