Population ecology of small mammals in clear cut areas of western Newfoundland and their short-term response to prescried burning

• Main Author: Nichols, Rina Kathryn
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 1995
• Subjects: Canada; Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/5983/; https://research.library.mun.ca/5983/1/Nichols_RinaKathryn.pdf; https://research.library.mun.ca/5983/3/Nichols_RinaKathryn.pdf

A study of small mammals was conducted from May to September 1994 in a heavily logged area in western Newfoundland, Canada. This study consisted of two main projects: 1) an ecological study of a population of small mammals with emphasis on meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus. 2) a study of the short-term response of small mammals to prescribe burning. Both populations were studied via live-trapping and telemetry. -- The first project examined a population of small mammals on a 3.2 ha plot established in a 9-year-old clearcut. Three main habitat types were present in the plot: forest regeneration which comprised 89 percent of the area, and relatively small percentages of clearings and moist meadow patches. Three species were captured on the site during the study: meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus), masked shrew (Sorex cinereus) and deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus). Only three Peromycus were captured over the four months of the study and Sorex were difficult to live-trap, therefore efforts were focused on meadow voles. Thirteen resident female Microtus, five adults and 8 eight juveniles, were radio-collared from June until late August 1994. -- Survival, recruitment and density of meadow voles peaked in June and then decreased to very low numbers in the fall. Density of voles in western Newfoundland were lower than those reported for continental vole populations. Only six percent of juvenile voles showed signs of sexual maturity in the summer of their birth. Several juveniles were sixty to ninety days old and still were not reproductively active. Microtus exhibited strong preference for the moist meadow patches in the 9-year-old clearcut. Seven of the eight juveniles radio-collared had a portion of their home range in the meadow habitat. Four of the five adults were located in the meadow or moist patches during excursions away from the nest. Plant species highly palatable to voles, as revealed by a food preference test, were most abundant in the small meadow areas. The highly palatable species could not be ...