THE SEASONAL EFFECTS OF VEGETATION COVER AND FOOD AVAILABILITY ON WHITE-FOOTED DEER MOUSE NEST BOX OCCUPANCY IN URBAN FOREST FRAGMENTS
Date
2014-12
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
White-footed deer mice (Peromyscus leucopus) are common inhabitants of urban forest fragments in Newark, Delaware, USA. Wooden nest boxes were used to study occupancy in 8 study sites characterized by small patch size and multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) from September 2013 to May 2014. Microhabitat features including cover and food availability were measured around nest boxes using Nudds boards, a factor-10 wedge prism, and ground mast samples. Fall and winter occupancy were compared to seasonal vegetation density, hard mast biomass, and rose hip biomass in the software program PRESENCE. White-footed deer mouse nest box occupancy in fall was positively related to vegetation density measured in June. Winter occupancy was not related to cover or food covariates. Areas with dense summer vegetation cover, which provides refuge from predators, have greater occupancy of white-footed deer mice. Implications for other wildlife species should be considered before dense vegetation cover is managed in urban forest fragments.
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Keywords
Wildlife Ecology, white-footed deer mouse, nest box occupancy