Altered space use and movement distances of Merriam’s kangaroo rat, Dipodomys merriami, in post-fire lands

Abstract

Habitat fragmentation can alter many ecological processes, including animal movement and habitat-use patterns. Understanding how habitat fragmentation influences movement and habitat use is critical for predicting longterm consequences of the negative impacts of disturbances. Fires in Joshua Tree National Park in the Mojave Desert were historically rare disturbances but have become increasingly common, generating novel patterns of habitat heterogeneity. We examined the effects of post-fire spatial complexity of burned lands on spring and daily movement distances of Merriam's kangaroo rat, Dipodomys merriami, in Joshua Tree National Park. Movement distances did not show a direct relationship with the amount of post-fire remnant vegetation; rather, we found that D. merriami increased spring movement distances within the patchily burned sites, which also showed the lowest small mammal abundances. However, in burned sites, D. merriami maintained larger territories than in the unburned site. The adaptability of D. merriami to fragmentation could be an asset for restoration via seed dispersal within burned sites in the Mojave Desert.

Animal movements in fire‐prone landscapes

“…Data from spool‐and‐line devices helped demonstrate the effects of vegetation type on path tortuosity of didelphid marsupials in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil (Moura et al ., ), while Kay et al . () used fluorescent pigment to track fine‐scale gecko movements and quantify the influence of grass height on their perceptual range, a technique that has also been applied to study the daily movements of the kangaroo rat ( Dipodomys merriami ) following fire in Joshua Tree National Park, U.S.A. (Hulton VanTassel & Anderson, ). Quantifying perceptual ranges using these methods could be particularly important for gaining insights into infrequent movements across fire histories, including assessing cues for emigration.…”

Movement response of small mammals to burn severity reveals importance of microhabitat features

“…High-severity fire can remove habitat, reduce landscape connectivity, and disincentivize animals from moving through the burned matrix because large gaps increase perceived predation risk (Bakker and Van Vuren 2004; Wilkinson et al 2013). In addition, low vegetative cover following more severe burns may increase an individual's perceived risk as exemplified by lower net squared displacement (Hulton VanTassel and Anderson 2018) and foraging activity (Loggins et al 2019) in burned areas. Actual predation risk also increases with open ground and less vegetation structure (Kotler et al 1991; Longland and Price 1991; Hovick et al 2017).…”

“…Tortuosity is a useful metric in quantifying how species might respond when fleeing from a predator (Hodges et al 2014), moving over unfamiliar ground (Bakker 2006), and for indicating patch heterogeneity and vegetation selectivity (Lagos et al 1995; Bakker 2006; Prevedello et al 2010). For example, more tortuous movement paths could result from an animal moving within a mosaic of heterogeneous burn severities (Fordyce et al 2016), and reflect perceived predation risk (Lagos et al 1995), space use (Hulton VanTassel and Anderson 2018), and food availability via foraging behavior (Vernes and Haydon 2001).…”

Influência da escala e variáveis do habitat no uso e seleção de espaço de quatro espécies de roedores na Reserva Biológica da Serra do Japi, JundiaíSP

“…O movimento do animal é influenciado por diversos fatores, entre eles a complexidade e a heterogeneidade do habitat, a disponibilidade de recursos alimentares e abrigos, a presença de competidores e predadores e a procura por parceiros reprodutivos (Morris 2003;VanTassel e Anderson 2018;Vieira et al 2019;Delciellos et al 2020). O movimento e o comportamento animal também dependem do conhecimento prévio da área, da percepção animal e sua capacidade de orientação e locomoção (Vieira et al 2019).…”