DOES HABITAT FRAGMENTATION ALTER SPACE USE PATTERNS IN DEER MICE (PEROMYSCUS MANICULATUS)?
Sarah Webster and Erika L. Barthelmess. Biology Department, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY, USA. ABSTRACT- One of the most significant threats to biodiversity worldwide is habitat fragmentation. As urbanization and development increase, semi-natural landscapes like golf courses are becoming more important as green spaces for wildlife. Golf courses are, however, fragmented landscapes. We took advantage of a semi-natural landscape, the St. Lawrence University golf course, to study whether habitat fragmentation alters space use patterns in deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). We established a series of small mammal live-trapping grids on forested golf course “islands.” Each was paired with a similar grid in a nearby unfragmented woodland. We trapped the grids 4 to 5 days per week for 8 weeks during the summer. Animals were uniquely marked and their identification and trap location were recorded with every capture. We used the Animal Movement extension with ArcView 3.3 software to calc
