Rodent population density and survival respond to disturbance induced by timber harvest

Nelson, Dana L; Kellner, Kenneth F.

doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyz094

Cited by 15 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Habitat selection for small mammals, particularly as it relates to forest structural features, is typically assessed with microhabitat and vegetation structural characteristics, such as coarse woody debris and leaf litter cover (Nelson et al, 2019 ). However, it was not feasible to assess microhabitat features for each camera location and across the landscape.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prey‐driven behavioral habitat use in a low‐energy ambush predator

Tutterow

Hoffman

Buffington

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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Food acquisition is an important modulator of animal behavior and habitat selection that can affect fitness. Optimal foraging theory predicts that predators should select habitat patches to maximize their foraging success and net energy gain, likely achieved by targeting areas with high prey availability. However, it is debated whether prey availability drives fine‐scale habitat selection for predators. We assessed whether an ambush predator, the timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus), exhibits optimal foraging site selection based on the spatial distribution and availability of prey. We used passive infrared camera trap detections of potential small mammal prey (Peromyscus spp., Tamias striatus, and Sciurus spp.) to generate variables of prey availability across the study area and used whether a snake was observed in a foraging location or not to model optimal foraging in timber rattlesnakes. Our models of small mammal spatial distributions broadly predicted that prey availability was greatest in mature deciduous forests, but T. striatus and Sciurus spp. exhibited greater spatial heterogeneity compared with Peromyscus spp. We found the spatial distribution of cumulative small mammal encounters (i.e., overall prey availability), rather than the distribution of any one species, to be highly predictive of snake foraging. Timber rattlesnakes appear to forage where the probability of encountering prey is greatest. Our study provides evidence for fine‐scale optimal foraging in a low‐energy, ambush predator and offers new insights into drivers of snake foraging and habitat selection.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prey‐driven behavioral habitat use in a low‐energy ambush predator

Tutterow

Hoffman

Buffington

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Habitat selection for small mammals, particularly as it relates to forest structural features, is typically assessed with microhabitat and vegetation structural characteristics, such as coarse woody debris and leaf litter cover (Nelson et al, 2019). However, it was not feasible to assess microhabitat features for each camera location and across the landscape.…”

Section: Landscape Variables Characterizing Small Mammal Distributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prey-Driven Behavioral Habitat Use in a Low-Energy Ambush Predator

Tutterow

Hoffman

Buffington

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Food acquisition is an important modulator of animal behavior and habitat selection that can affect fitness. Optimal foraging theory predicts that predators should select habitat patches to maximize their foraging success and net energy gain, which predators can achieve by targeting spaces with high prey availability. However, it is debated whether prey availability drives fine-scale habitat selection for predators.We assessed whether an ambush predator, the timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus), exhibits optimal foraging site selection based on the spatial distribution and availability of prey.We evaluated the spatial concordance of radio-telemetered timber rattlesnake foraging locations and passive infrared game camera trap detections of potential small mammal prey (Peromyscus spp., Tamias striatus, and Sciurus spp.) in a mixed-use forest in southeastern Ohio from 2016–2019. We replicated a characteristic timber rattlesnake ambush position by focusing cameras over logs and modeled small mammal encounters across the landscape in relation to remotely-sensed forest and landscape structural features. To determine whether snakes selectively forage in areas with higher prey availability, we projected the estimated prey spatial relationships across the landscape and modeled their overlap of occurrence with observed timber rattlesnake foraging locations.We broadly predicted that prey availability was greatest in mature deciduous forests, but T. striatus and Sciurus spp. exhibited greater spatial heterogeneity compared to Peromyscus spp. We also combined predicted species encounter rates to encompass a body size gradient in potential prey. The spatial distribution of cumulative small mammal encounters (i.e. overall prey availability), rather than the distribution of any one species, was highly predictive of snake foraging.Timber rattlesnakes appear to select foraging locations where the probability of encountering prey is greatest. Our study provides evidence for fine-scale optimal foraging in a low-energy, ambush predator and offers new insights into drivers of snake foraging and habitat selection.

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“…However, fire and salvage logging create fundamentally different conditions for wildlife (Franklin et al 2002;Lindenmayer et al 2008). Conventional timber harvest influences animal distributions (Hargis et al 1999;Nelson et al 2019), home range structure (Lambert and Hannon 2000;Potvin et al 2000), and habitat connectivity (Cushman et al 2011;Popescu and Hunter 2011). These effects may be more pronounced on salvagelogged landscapes, where resources were already altered from burning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residual forest structure influences behaviour of Pacific marten (

Volkmann

Hodges

2022

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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Wildfires are broad-scale disturbances in North American forests, with impacts that persist for many decades. Further disturbance from post-fire salvage logging is extensively modifying burned landscapes. The removal of habitat structure by fire and salvage logging may affect the persistence of forest-specialist wildlife such as Pacific marten (Martes caurina). However, it is unclear which resources are important to marten on burned landscapes. We used snow tracking and habitat surveys to examine marten habitat selection after three large fires in north-central Washington, USA (10-13 years post-fire), and central British Columbia, Canada (1-2 and 6-9 years post-fire). We developed site-scale habitat models to explain marten foraging and scent-marking post-fire, and assessed further structural changes from salvage logging. Foraging marten chose sites with lower burn severity, greater canopy closure, more vertical structures (trees, snags, saplings, and shrubs), and greater moss/lichen cover than what was generally available. When scent-marking, marten selected structurally-complex sites with abundant deadfall or saplings. Marten moved more quickly when canopy cover was sparse, and rarely used salvage-logged areas. Our results suggest that marten rely on residual habitat structure within large burns, and that secondary disturbance from salvage logging is substantially more harmful to marten than the original fire.

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Rodent population density and survival respond to disturbance induced by timber harvest

Cited by 15 publications

References 52 publications

Prey‐driven behavioral habitat use in a low‐energy ambush predator

Prey‐driven behavioral habitat use in a low‐energy ambush predator

Prey-Driven Behavioral Habitat Use in a Low-Energy Ambush Predator

Residual forest structure influences behaviour of Pacific marten (

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