Reducing predator populations in the prairie pothole region can greatly increase nest success of both over water and upland nesting ducks. However, little is understood about impacts of predator removal on other wildlife within the same area. I conducted a field experiment to test whether small mammals, primarily mice (Peromyscus sp.) and voles (Microtus sp.), responded to seasonally reduced predator abundance. I compared small mammal abundance on 10 experimental (259 ha) sites in North Dakota during 2001 and 2002 with intensive, seasonal predator trapping with 10 control sites (259 ha) also monitored in both years. Small mammals were more abundant on sites where predators had been removed (F<sub>3,132</sub>= 44.45, P<0.001), suggesting that small mammals responded numerically to an absence of medium-sized carnivores. However, levels of small mammals were comparable in both springs, suggesting that enlarged populations of rodents in summer and early fall were not sustained through winter. I also observed a strong positive relationship between small mammal abundance and duck nest success (r = 0.84, P = 0.002 in 2001; r= 0.82, P = 0.004 in 2002), suggesting a possible buffer effect small mammals may have on predation of waterfowl nest.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LSU/oai:etd.lsu.edu:etd-0407103-142502 |
| Date | 07 April 2003 |
| Creators | Adkins, Jeremy Paul |
| Contributors | Michael Chamberlain, Vernon Wright, Frank Rohwer |
| Publisher | LSU |
| Source Sets | Louisiana State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-0407103-142502/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby grant to LSU or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University Libraries in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. |
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