Investigation of small mammal abundance, diversity, and dispersal on and around the Eastern Washington University Prairie Restoration Site
Faculty Mentor
Krisztian Magori and Paul Spruell
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Start Date
10-5-2023 12:50 PM
End Date
10-5-2023 1:10 PM
Location
PUB 317
Department
Biology
Abstract
Small mammals are an ecologically important component of every landscape on Earth. They are a food source for higher trophic level animals, disperse plant seed and mycorrhizal fungi spore, engineer the landscape through burrowing and foraging activities, and alter plant community composition through selective predation of seed and grain. Small mammals have also been found to help facilitate the transition between successive stages in prairie restoration. Eastern Washington University has dedicated 120 acres of campus land to restoration of native prairie habitat. We conducted a baseline survey of resident small mammals on and around the Eastern Washington University Prairie Restoration Project site. Small mammals were live-trapped over a 16-week period during Spring and Fall of 2022 at ten sites within a 4 km radius of the restoration site in areas of agricultural wheatfield and natural vegetation. Trapping success was highest at sites located within the restoration site, where ground cover was the highest. The overall most common and abundant species collected was Peromyscus maniculatus (Deer mouse), both on and off the restoration site. Mus musculus (House mouse) and Microtus spp. (vole) were collected only at sites located within the restoration area. Sorex vagrans (Vagrant shrew) was collected at one site, within an agricultural area near a drainage ditch. Buccal epithelial cheek swabs were also collected for ongoing genetic analysis of population structure for Peromyscus maniculatus to analyze habitat connectivity on and around the restoration site.
Recommended Citation
Deshazer, Sarah, "Investigation of small mammal abundance, diversity, and dispersal on and around the Eastern Washington University Prairie Restoration Site" (2023). 2023 Symposium. 8.
https://dc.ewu.edu/srcw_2023/res_2023/os1_2023/8
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Investigation of small mammal abundance, diversity, and dispersal on and around the Eastern Washington University Prairie Restoration Site
PUB 317
Small mammals are an ecologically important component of every landscape on Earth. They are a food source for higher trophic level animals, disperse plant seed and mycorrhizal fungi spore, engineer the landscape through burrowing and foraging activities, and alter plant community composition through selective predation of seed and grain. Small mammals have also been found to help facilitate the transition between successive stages in prairie restoration. Eastern Washington University has dedicated 120 acres of campus land to restoration of native prairie habitat. We conducted a baseline survey of resident small mammals on and around the Eastern Washington University Prairie Restoration Project site. Small mammals were live-trapped over a 16-week period during Spring and Fall of 2022 at ten sites within a 4 km radius of the restoration site in areas of agricultural wheatfield and natural vegetation. Trapping success was highest at sites located within the restoration site, where ground cover was the highest. The overall most common and abundant species collected was Peromyscus maniculatus (Deer mouse), both on and off the restoration site. Mus musculus (House mouse) and Microtus spp. (vole) were collected only at sites located within the restoration area. Sorex vagrans (Vagrant shrew) was collected at one site, within an agricultural area near a drainage ditch. Buccal epithelial cheek swabs were also collected for ongoing genetic analysis of population structure for Peromyscus maniculatus to analyze habitat connectivity on and around the restoration site.
