ORCID
0000-0002-4034-2684 (Gaff)
Document Type
Article (Online ahead of print)
DOI
10.25778/DB6R-4R32
Abstract
Changes in the composition of two small mammal communities were studied during 8 and 9 years of ecological succession in southern Chesapeake. Virginia. Using monthly live-trapping on grids of similar size and history since their abandonment as agricultural fields, we learned that house mice were early colonists on one grid but not the other. Two species of herbivorous rodent and the granivorous eastern harvest mouse were numerically dominant on both grids across the study. Some species disappeared early on one grid but persisted to the end at the other. The two arboreal small mammals, golden and white-footed mice, were most predictable between sites, showing up at year 8, after significant woody elements were present on the grids. The greatest abundances of small mammals (and probably greatest total biomass too) were seen between years 4 and 6 of ecological succession.
Recommended Citation
Rose, Robert K., Robyn M. Nadolny, Jay Kiser, Stephen E. Rice, Heather Green Salamone, Jana Eggleston, and Holly D. Gaff. 2018. Compositional Changes in Two Small Mammal Communities During Succession in Southeastern Virginia. Virginia Journal of Science 69 (1/2): 12pp. Online ahead of print. doi: 10.25778/DB6R-4R32 Available at: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/vjs/vol69/iss1/2
Comments
This is the online version published ahead of print. Initial submission: April 2018; revised submission: August 2018.