Date of Award

1998

Publication Type

Master Thesis

Degree Name

M.Sc.

Department

Biological Sciences

Keywords

Biology, Ecology.

Supervisor

M'Closkey, Robert T.,

Rights

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

Abstract

Small mammal habitat selection was studied at different spatial and temporal scales at Point Pelee National Park, Ontario. At a relatively large scale, small mammals were censused in nine different locations over the 450 hectares of the park, and compared temporally for censuses performed in the same sites in 1971 and 1996. The nine locations represented a variety of habitats at different stages of ecological succession, and some of them changed significantly between 1971 and 1996. Habitat preferences observed for three rodent species in 1971 were used to predict which habitats in 1996 would contain populations of these species. Predictions were upheld in some cases, but population cycles and the extinction risk to small populations suggested reasons for unexpected absences. Another study examined responses of two rodent species to habitat variation at much smaller spatial (2.125 ha) and temporal (one summer) scales. In the first analysis, abundances of the two species varied with habitat type, and the relationship was similar at two spatial scales. In the second analysis, I found that home range size and overlap were not consistently affected by habitat type, and significant relationships were not always observed in the same habitats that were significant in the abundance regressions. One explanation for inconsistencies is that large-scale habitat cues affect initial home range placement, and home range size and overlap are adjusted afterward in response to local conditions.Dept. of Biological Sciences. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1998 .H45. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 39-02, page: 0443. Adviser: Robert T. M'Closkey. Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1998.

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