Effect of land cover, habitat fragmentation and ant colonies on the distribution and abundance of shrews in southern California
January 1, 2001
- Because effects of habitat fragmentation and anthropogenic disturbance on native animals have been relatively little studied in arid areas and in insectivores, we investigated the roles of different land covers, habitat fragmentation and ant colonies on the distribution and abundance of shrews, Notiosorex crawfordi and Sorex ornatus, in southern California.
- Notiosorex crawfordi was the numerically dominant species (trap-success rate 0·52) occurring in 21 of the 22 study sites in 85% of the 286 pitfall arrays used in this study.Sorex ornatus was captured in 14 of the sites, in 52% of the arrays with a total trap-success rate of 0·2. Neither of the species was found in one of the sites.
- The population dynamics of the two shrew species were relatively synchronous during the 4–5-year study; the peak densities usually occurred during the spring. Precipitation had a significant positive effect, and maximum temperature a significant negative effect on the trap-success rate of S. ornatus.
- Occurrence and abundance of shrews varied significantly between sites and years but the size of the landscape or the study site had no effect on the abundance of shrews. The amount of urban edge had no significant effect on the captures of shrews but increased edge allows invasion of the Argentine ants, which had a highly significant negative impact on the abundance of N. crawfordi.
- At the trap array level, the percentage of coastal sage scrub flora had a significant positive, and the percentage of other flora had a significant negative effect on the abundance of N. crawfordi. The mean canopy height and the abundance of N. crawfordi had a significant positive effect on the occurrence of S. ornatus.
- Our study suggests that the loss of native coastal sage scrub flora and increasing presence of Argentine ant colonies may significantly effect the distribution and abundance of N. crawfordi. The very low overall population densities of both shrew species in most study sites make both species susceptible to extinction in isolated habitat fragments due to environmental stochasticity, and anthropogenic disturbance.
Citation Information
| Publication Year | 2001 |
|---|---|
| Title | Effect of land cover, habitat fragmentation and ant colonies on the distribution and abundance of shrews in southern California |
| DOI | 10.1046/j.0021-8790.2001.00542.x |
| Authors | Juha Laakkonen, Robert N. Fisher, Ted J. Case |
| Publication Type | Article |
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Series Title | Journal of Animal Ecology |
| Index ID | 1008175 |
| Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
| USGS Organization | Western Ecological Research Center |