Reintroduction of the Eastern Woodrat (<i>Neotoma floridana</i>) in Southern Illinois

Poole, A.; Novosak, Brian A.; Gooley, Aaron C.; Ing, David Michael; Bluett, Robert D.; Carter, Timothy C.; Feldhamer, George A.

doi:10.1656/058.012.0101

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…We conducted our study at 4 southern Illinois, USA, sites with known woodrat presence following reintroduction 2003–2009 (Poole et al ): Garden of the Gods, Buzzard's Point, High Knob, and Pounds Escarpment. All were within the Shawnee National Forest and contained rock outcrops primarily composed of composite sandstones (Horberg ).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Live‐trapping is necessary to obtain accurate demographic data for rodents (McCleery et al , Weerakoon et al ; but see Villette et al ), but it is labor‐intensive and can increase stress and risk of mortality (Drickamer and Paine , Kenagy and Place , Romero et al ). Surveys for woodrat sign (e.g., scat and latrines, food caches, stick houses) are useful for identifying locations that woodrats have recently or historically occupied (Nawrot and Klimstra , Poole et al ), but may not be appropriate for monitoring current presence. Sign that accumulates during a drought or in protected microsites may persist long after extirpation, giving a false impression of presence (Nawrot and Klimstra ).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Pursuing packrats: An evaluation of noninvasive detection methods for Neotoma

Gooley

Schauber

2018

Wildl. Soc. Bull.

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Woodrats (Neotoma spp.) are imperiled in large swathes of the United States. Their populations have previously been monitored mainly through live-trapping and sign surveys. However, these methods are labor-intensive and either stress captured animals or limited by sign visibility and persistence. As noninvasive alternatives, we deployed baited camera traps and baited track plates to monitor eastern woodrat (N. floridana) presence along rocky outcrops at 4 woodrat reintroduction sites in southern Illinois, USA, during May 2013 (5 camera and track-plate stations/site) and May and September 2014 (4 camera and track-plate stations/site) to compare their effectiveness. During each deployment, camera traps detected woodrat presence at all 4 sites while track plates only detected presence at 2-3 sites. A greater proportion of camera traps than track plates recorded detections during each deployment. Camera traps required more personhours to deploy and retrieve, but resulted in more detections per hour effort than track plates. We conclude that baited camera traps are superior to baited track plates for detecting and monitoring woodrat presence.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Pursuing packrats: An evaluation of noninvasive detection methods for Neotoma

Gooley

Schauber

2018

Wildl. Soc. Bull.

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Cave Faunas of the Upper Mississippi Valley Region

Lewis

Whitaker

2020

Cave and Karst Systems of the World

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Trees, owls, worms, and crevices: which habitat factors predict local woodrat demographics?

Gooley

Schauber

2022

Journal of Mammalogy

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Hypothesized reasons for the decline of many woodrat populations in the eastern United States include parasitism by raccoon roundworm (Baylisascaris procyonis; Ascaridida: Ascarididae), hard mast shortages, owl predation, and reductions in suitable structures (e.g., rock crevices) for nest construction. We investigated whether abundance and apparent survival of eastern woodrats (Neotoma floridana) within a successfully reintroduced metapopulation in southern Illinois could be predicted by factors underlying these hypothesized reasons for woodrat declines. We analyzed capture histories of 205 eastern woodrats from eight rock outcrop sites in summers of 2013 and 2014 to estimate local population size and apparent survival. We then used repeated-measures models to test how woodrat abundance and apparent survival were associated with availability of mast trees, owl abundance, risk of raccoon roundworm infection, and crevice availability. Mean monthly estimated woodrat abundance at sites ranged from 0.78 to 21.58 in 2013 and 0.48 to 18.08 in 2014, while monthly apparent survival ranged from 0.00 to 0.76 during the summers and 0.05 to 0.90 during the trapping intersession. Crevice availability was positively associated both with abundance and apparent survival of woodrats. Our results did not support the hypothesis that owls reduce woodrat populations because woodrat abundance was positively associated with owl abundance across sites. No raccoon roundworm eggs were found at any site. We conclude that crevice availability was the best predictor of woodrat population success in our study area, while owl abundance may be a proxy for other habitat variables or a response to woodrat abundance. Our findings suggest measures that could be taken to benefit woodrat survival and abundance.

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Reintroduction of the Eastern Woodrat (Neotoma floridana) in Southern Illinois

Cited by 6 publications

References 16 publications

Pursuing packrats: An evaluation of noninvasive detection methods for Neotoma

Pursuing packrats: An evaluation of noninvasive detection methods for Neotoma

Cave Faunas of the Upper Mississippi Valley Region

Trees, owls, worms, and crevices: which habitat factors predict local woodrat demographics?

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