Vegetational affinities, arboreal activity, and coexistence of three species of rodents
Citation
Sally J Holbrook, Vegetational affinities, arboreal activity, and coexistence of three species of rodents: .
Summary
ABSTRACT.-Habitaut tilization by Peromyscus boylii, P. maniculatus, and Neotoma stephensi was studied by live trapping marked animals on grids in a variety of local habitats in eastcentral Arizona. None of the species exhibited clear-cut affinities for specific plant taxa; rather, the types of flora used by each species varied from grid to grid. P. boylii tended to use a wide variety of vegetational microhabitats, but almost always was captured in higher frequencies than expected in the commonest type(s) at a locality. P. maniculatus showed much more restricted habitat utilization, but where it did occur, it tended to be captured in the most prevalent vegetation more often than expected. N. stephensi also occurred in a restricted range [...]
Summary
ABSTRACT.-Habitaut tilization by Peromyscus boylii, P. maniculatus, and Neotoma stephensi was studied by live trapping marked animals on grids in a variety of local habitats in eastcentral Arizona. None of the species exhibited clear-cut affinities for specific plant taxa; rather, the types of flora used by each species varied from grid to grid. P. boylii tended to use a wide variety of vegetational microhabitats, but almost always was captured in higher frequencies than expected in the commonest type(s) at a locality. P. maniculatus showed much more restricted habitat utilization, but where it did occur, it tended to be captured in the most prevalent vegetation more often than expected. N. stephensi also occurred in a restricted range of microhabitats, and it usually utilized rarer vegetational types. Live trapping on platforms permanently affixed in trees, on logs, and in the canopies of bushes revealed arboreal activity. P. maniculatus spent much less time in aboveground activity than did the other two species. Both N. stephensi and P. boylii climbed in plants of a variety of taxa, shapes, and heights. However, P. boylii tended to use more types of the available above-ground resources and to climb higher than N. stephensi. The amount and nature of each species' arboreal activity did not differ significantly between woodland and shrubland habitats
Published in Journal of Mammalogy, volume 60, issue 3, on pages 528 - 542, in 1979.
