Ecological Distribution of Small Mammals in the De Long Mountains of Northwestern Alaska
The ecological distribution of small mammals (<200 g) was studied in the foothill tundra of the De Long Mountains in northwestern Alaska. Three species of shrews and five species of microtine rodents were trapped on 15 live-trapping grids during 1978 and 1979. Emphasis was placed on the three mos...
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1984
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ftunivcalgaryojs:oai:journalhosting.ucalgary.ca:article/65232 2023-05-15T14:19:15+02:00 Ecological Distribution of Small Mammals in the De Long Mountains of Northwestern Alaska Douglass, Richard J. 1984-01-01 application/pdf https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65232 eng eng The Arctic Institute of North America https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65232/49146 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65232 ARCTIC; Vol. 37 No. 2 (1984): June: 91–194; 148-154 1923-1245 0004-0843 Animal distribution Animal ecology Rodentia Tundra ecology Wildlife habitat De Long Mountains Alaska info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion research-article 1984 ftunivcalgaryojs 2022-03-22T21:22:19Z The ecological distribution of small mammals (<200 g) was studied in the foothill tundra of the De Long Mountains in northwestern Alaska. Three species of shrews and five species of microtine rodents were trapped on 15 live-trapping grids during 1978 and 1979. Emphasis was placed on the three most abundant microtine species (Clethrionomys rutilus, Microtus oeconomus and M. gregalis). During late summer up to six species of small mammals were captured per habitat type which ranged from wet meadow through mesic shrubland to dry ridges. Following snowmelt most habitats contained only a single species and some contained none. Only four habitat types were continuously occupied by small mammals during both summers. Species diversity was variable among habitats. Most species of small mammals were captured on eight or fewer of the 15 trapping grids. Only Clethrionomys rutilus was captured on all grids. The number of habitats occupied by Clethrionomys rutilus increased from 4 to 14 as population densities increased. The number of habitats occupied by the other species seemed to be independent of population density. Average population densities for the microtines were low (<15/ha) and, for each species, varied according to habitat type. Only Clethrionomys rutilus populations demonstrated marked intra-annual fluctuations (3/ha to 37/ha).Key words: rodents, habitat, Alaska, populations, Clethrionomys rutilus, Micro oeconomus, Microtu gregalis Mots clés: rongeurs, habitat, Alaska, populations, Clethrionomys rutilus, Microtus oeconomus, M. gregalis Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Tundra Alaska University of Calgary Journal Hosting ARCTIC 37 2 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Calgary Journal Hosting |
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ftunivcalgaryojs |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal distribution Animal ecology Rodentia Tundra ecology Wildlife habitat De Long Mountains Alaska |
spellingShingle |
Animal distribution Animal ecology Rodentia Tundra ecology Wildlife habitat De Long Mountains Alaska Douglass, Richard J. Ecological Distribution of Small Mammals in the De Long Mountains of Northwestern Alaska |
topic_facet |
Animal distribution Animal ecology Rodentia Tundra ecology Wildlife habitat De Long Mountains Alaska |
description |
The ecological distribution of small mammals (<200 g) was studied in the foothill tundra of the De Long Mountains in northwestern Alaska. Three species of shrews and five species of microtine rodents were trapped on 15 live-trapping grids during 1978 and 1979. Emphasis was placed on the three most abundant microtine species (Clethrionomys rutilus, Microtus oeconomus and M. gregalis). During late summer up to six species of small mammals were captured per habitat type which ranged from wet meadow through mesic shrubland to dry ridges. Following snowmelt most habitats contained only a single species and some contained none. Only four habitat types were continuously occupied by small mammals during both summers. Species diversity was variable among habitats. Most species of small mammals were captured on eight or fewer of the 15 trapping grids. Only Clethrionomys rutilus was captured on all grids. The number of habitats occupied by Clethrionomys rutilus increased from 4 to 14 as population densities increased. The number of habitats occupied by the other species seemed to be independent of population density. Average population densities for the microtines were low (<15/ha) and, for each species, varied according to habitat type. Only Clethrionomys rutilus populations demonstrated marked intra-annual fluctuations (3/ha to 37/ha).Key words: rodents, habitat, Alaska, populations, Clethrionomys rutilus, Micro oeconomus, Microtu gregalis Mots clés: rongeurs, habitat, Alaska, populations, Clethrionomys rutilus, Microtus oeconomus, M. gregalis |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Douglass, Richard J. |
author_facet |
Douglass, Richard J. |
author_sort |
Douglass, Richard J. |
title |
Ecological Distribution of Small Mammals in the De Long Mountains of Northwestern Alaska |
title_short |
Ecological Distribution of Small Mammals in the De Long Mountains of Northwestern Alaska |
title_full |
Ecological Distribution of Small Mammals in the De Long Mountains of Northwestern Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Ecological Distribution of Small Mammals in the De Long Mountains of Northwestern Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ecological Distribution of Small Mammals in the De Long Mountains of Northwestern Alaska |
title_sort |
ecological distribution of small mammals in the de long mountains of northwestern alaska |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
1984 |
url |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65232 |
genre |
Arctic Tundra Alaska |
genre_facet |
Arctic Tundra Alaska |
op_source |
ARCTIC; Vol. 37 No. 2 (1984): June: 91–194; 148-154 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_relation |
https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65232/49146 https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/65232 |
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ARCTIC |
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37 |
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1766290884846944256 |