Rodent populations on the northern Great Plains respond to weather variation at a landscape scale

Heisler, Leanne M.; Somers, Christopher M.; Poulin, Ray G.

doi:10.1644/13-mamm-a-115.1

Cited by 36 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Given these advantages, owl pellets can be used as a powerful tool to investigate broad‐scale small mammal community composition (Miller et al . ), including compositional changes in response to landscape‐level climatic variation (Hadly ; Heisler, Somers & Poulin ), species–habitat associations and habitat change (Pena et al . ; Heisler et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Considerable time and expense are required to quantify mammal remains; however, single pellet collections include hundreds to thousands of individuals spatiotemporally averaged across habitats within the foraging ranges of individual owls, providing a unique perspective on species-habitat associations across entire biogeographic regions. Given these advantages, owl pellets can be used as a powerful tool to investigate broad-scale small mammal community composition (Miller et al 2014), including compositional changes in response to landscape-level climatic variation (Hadly 1999;Heisler, Somers & Poulin 2014), species-habitat associations and habitat change (Pena et al 2003;Heisler et al 2013), species distributional changes, as well as monitoring distributions of endangered or exotic species (Clark & Bunck 1991).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Owl pellets: a more effective alternative to conventional trapping for broad‐scale studies of small mammal communities

2015

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1. Small mammal community composition is almost universally estimated from conventional trapping, which is logistically difficult to scale up for landscape-level assessments. Owl pellets may be a more effective alternative for measuring small mammal community composition over large geographic areas due to the relative ease and low cost of field collections. However, owl pellets may introduce sampling biases that differ from those associated with conventional trapping. A thorough comparison to conventional traps is required before owl pellets can be widely adopted as an alternative research tool for small mammal studies. 2. We conducted a literature review of owl diet-prey availability studies to: (i) compare small mammal community composition between owl pellets and trapping when the two methods were used simultaneously and (ii) assess the influence of owl genus and habitat type on community composition estimated by these two methods. We used data from 27 published studies, which allowed for 32 comparisons between owl pellets and trapping conducted simultaneously. These studies included 15 owl species from five common genera from different major habitats. 3. Rarefied estimates showed that owls consistently sampled identical or higher species richness compared to conventional trapping. Richness estimates rarefied to the lowest sample size per study were not statistically identical (l Drichness = 0Á20 AE 0Á09 SE, P = 0Á30); on average, 0Á95 AE 0Á13 SE additional species were identified from pellets compared to trapping. Measures of species dominance and evenness estimated from both methods were statistically identical (l D1-D = 0Á02 AE 0Á03 SE; l DPIE = 0Á004 AE 0Á04 SE). Species lists, relative species composition and species rank-order abundance were in moderate agreement between sampling methods (Jaccard = 0Á62 AE 0Á04 SE; Bray-Curtis = 0Á53 AE 0Á04 SE; Spearman rho = 0Á41 AE 0Á07 SE). Linear regression and AIC model selection showed that the performance of pellets versus traps did not differ based on owl genus or habitat type. 4. Small mammal community composition estimated via pellets was better represented compared to estimates from conventional trapping. Composition metrics from the two methods were consistent and not affected by owl genera or habitat type. Thus, owls are an effective alternative for landscape-level assessments of small mammal communities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Owl pellets: a more effective alternative to conventional trapping for broad‐scale studies of small mammal communities

2015

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“…Furthermore, Poulin (2003) demonstrated that burrowing owl prey cache size was positively related to burrowing owl population size the following year (burrowing owls often breed in the first year after hatch; Mitchell et al 2011). Unfortunately, prey outbreaks in Canada are linked to winter weather conditions (Heisler, Somers & Poulin 2014), which cannot be managed. However, habitat management actions promoting abundant and accessible prey in non-outbreak years should increase burrowing owl prey caches, thereby allowing owls to better withstand periods of acute food shortage during inclement weather and presumably increase their productivity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Management strategies (i.e. grazing, mowing, haying) that create heterogeneous vegetation structure in grasslands would promote both abundant (tall and dense vegetation) and available (short and sparse vegetation) small mammalian prey (Marsh, Wellicome & Bayne 2014), such as deer mice Peromyscus maniculatus Wagner, meadow voles Microtus pennsylvanicus Ord and sagebrush voles Lemmiscus curtatus Cope (Heisler, Somers & Poulin 2014). Management actions to increase prey abundance and availability in other habitat types remain more elusive.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme precipitation reduces reproductive output of an endangered raptor

Fisher

Wellicome

Bayne

et al. 2015

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Summary1. The frequency and intensity of extreme weather has increased in North America against a backdrop of anthropogenic land change. Few studies have examined how wildlife is affected by extreme weather, and none have examined whether any resulting effects are contingent upon the degree of anthropogenic landscape change. 2. Using an 8-year study in Canada (2003Canada ( -2010, we examined how nest survival of burrowing owls Athene cunicularia varied in relation to weather, vegetation and soil type around the nest. Using a 3-year (1992, 1993 and 1996) feeding experiment, we examined whether food limitation also causes owlet mortality during inclement weather. Lastly, we examined how productivity (i.e. annual fledgling output) between 2003 and 2010 varied as a function of breeding season precipitation anomalies. Using this relationship, we estimated how productivity has changed in response to breeding season precipitation anomalies from 1960 to 2012. 3. During extreme precipitation events, nest survival decreased because of flooding. When burrow flooding did not occur, the youngest owlets in broods that were not food-supplemented had the lowest survival rates when there was precipitation, yet almost all food-supplemented owlets survived bouts of inclement weather. Accordingly, annual productivity from 2003 to 2010 varied inversely with breeding season precipitation anomalies, and we estimated that mean annual productivity decreased by 12% from 1960 to 2012. 4. Synthesis and applications. Extreme rainfall during the breeding season reduced reproductive success of burrowing owls. Given that many raptors experience food limitation during extreme rainfall, large-scale habitat management to increase the abundance and availability of prey may allow these species to better withstand acute food shortages. In light of predicted increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather, supplemental feeding could be used in triage situations for burrowing owl management and has the potential to be an effective short-term conservation measure for other raptors. Protecting or reclaiming pastures in uplands that are less prone to flooding would further buffer burrowing owls and other ground-nesting species from extreme precipitation. These actions should mitigate the negative effects of extreme rainfall in the short term; however, long-term persistence of many species will become increasingly uncertain, as climate change scenarios predict an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather.

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“…Además, el Aragoniense Medio es una época de marcada estacionalidad con precipitaciones escasas y probablemente impredecibles, lo que pudo dar lugar a sequías de duración variable (Domingo et al, 2009;García Yelo et al, 2014;Martín, 2015). La escasez de agua puede llegar a ser el factor limitante con mayor efecto sobre la dinámica poblacional de las comunidades de roedores (Morgan Ernest et al, 2000;Stapp, 2010;Heisler et al, 2014;Shenbrot, 2014). Las abundancias relativas de las diferentes especies de roedores de las zonas áridas del Desierto de Chihuahua (Nuevo México y Arizona) sufren variaciones anuales significativas asociadas a la disponibilidad hídrica (Morgan Ernest et al, 2000).…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

Heterogeneidad lateral en las muestras de roedores del tramo T1 del Mioceno Medio de Somosaguas (Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid)

Blanco

Fernández

2016

Estud. geol.

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Las asociaciones de roedores son utilizadas de manera generalizada en paleontología para realizar inferencias paleoambientales. En ocasiones, asumiendo una homogeneidad lateral en el contenido fosilífero de los niveles estratigráficos, estas inferencias se llevan a cabo utilizando las abundancias relativas de las distintas especies que componen esas asociaciones. No obstante, nunca se ha comprobado experimentalmente dicha homogeneidad espacial en las proporciones específicas dentro de un mismo nivel fosilífero. Para comprobar esta homogeneidad lateral, en este trabajo se compararon dos muestras procedentes del tramo T1 (Somosaguas- Sur y Cata-3) del yacimiento paleontológico de Somosaguas (Mioceno Medio), correspondientes a dos puntos de muestreo separados unos 30 m. Aunque se mantuvo una composición faunística idéntica desde un punto de vista cualitativo, los análisis realizados por medio de aleatorizaciones de Monte Carlo, indicaron la existencia de diferencias significativas en las abundancias relativas de las distintas especies entre las dos muestras. Estos resultados podrían deberse a 1) un diferente comportamiento sedimentario de las piezas dentales de las distintas especies debido a diferencias en su tamaño; 2) el reducido tamaño de las muestras de sedimento en combinación con la elevada densidad de restos fósiles en el tramo T1 de Somosaguas; 3) una mezcla temporal diferencial relacionada con la presencia de varios abanicos aluviales sucesivos, sumado a cambios poblacionales de la comunidad local de roedores influidos por cambios ambientales durante el Aragoniense. Nuestros resultados muestran la necesidad de ser cautelosos a la hora de realizar inferencias palecológicas basadas en abundancias relativas de especies de micromamíferos.

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Rodent populations on the northern Great Plains respond to weather variation at a landscape scale

Cited by 36 publications

References 47 publications

Owl pellets: a more effective alternative to conventional trapping for broad‐scale studies of small mammal communities

Owl pellets: a more effective alternative to conventional trapping for broad‐scale studies of small mammal communities

Extreme precipitation reduces reproductive output of an endangered raptor

Heterogeneidad lateral en las muestras de roedores del tramo T1 del Mioceno Medio de Somosaguas (Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid)

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