Small-Mammal Occupancy in Freshwater Marshes of Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana

Small mammals are key consumers in the marsh food web and could serve as indicators of a marsh's potential to support higher-level predators. We studied how small-mammal occupancy varied among plant communities in coastal Louisiana freshwater marshes. We sampled small mammals at 36 sites on 4 d...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Southeastern naturalist (Steuben, Me.) Me.), 2014, Vol.13 (3), p.463-474
Main Authors: Tobin, Eric J., Visser, Jenneke M., Peterson, James K., Leberg, Paul L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
biomass
conservation areas
ecosystems
food webs
freshwater
marshes
Oryza sativa
Oryzomys palustris
plant communities
predators
Sagittaria lancifolia
small mammals
spring
springs (water)
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Small mammals are key consumers in the marsh food web and could serve as indicators of a marsh's potential to support higher-level predators. We studied how small-mammal occupancy varied among plant communities in coastal Louisiana freshwater marshes. We sampled small mammals at 36 sites on 4 different occasions during the late spring in freshwater marshes of the Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge, LA. Mammalian diversity was low; we captured only Oryzomys palustris (Marsh Rice Rats). Occupancy modeling revealed a positive association between Marsh Rice Rat site occupancy and Sagittarialancifolia (Bulltongue Arrowhead) biomass. Our data suggest that subtle changes in plant-species composition within a marsh may affect the distribution of the most common small mammal in the ecosystem.
ISSN:1528-7092
1938-5412
DOI:10.1656/058.013.0306