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University
Shawnee State University
Major
Biology
Presentation Types
Oral Group Presentation
Keywords:
Mammal diversity, Trap efficiency, Small mammal capture
Abstract
Knowledge of mammal abundance and distribution can provide useful information for management and conservation. As primary consumers and prey items, mammals play a crucial role in the regulation of plant communities and vertebrate and invertebrate populations. A survey of mammal richness and abundance within riparian microhabitats is being conducted in Shawnee State Forest, Portsmouth, Ohio. Specifically, our study seeks to document fauna, compare diversity among habitats, and investigate efficacy of trapping equipment. Twenty-one mechanical traps including Sherman (three sizes), Pitfall, and Trip-Traps, are set within each of five established transects once weekly. Traps are randomly baited with oats and brown sugar, wet or dry cat food and peanut butter, or tuna. Trapping will continue until May of 2021 for a total of 840 trap nights, after which statistical analyses will be used to determine if diversity, trap type, or bait preferences differed significantly between microhabitat, trap, and bait types, respectively.
Human Subjects
no
IRB Approval
no
Faculty Mentor Name
Sarah Minter
Faculty Mentor Title
Professor
Faculty Mentor Academic Department
Natural Sciences
Recommended Citation
Young, Niki; Combs, Brianna; Dean, Emily; and Oehlers, Victoria, "A comparison of Mammal Diversity among Microhabitats in Shawnee State Forest and an Investigation of Trap Efficacy for Small Mammal Capture" (2021). Celebration of Scholarship. 4.
https://digitalcommons.shawnee.edu/cos/2021/day4/4
A comparison of Mammal Diversity among Microhabitats in Shawnee State Forest and an Investigation of Trap Efficacy for Small Mammal Capture
Knowledge of mammal abundance and distribution can provide useful information for management and conservation. As primary consumers and prey items, mammals play a crucial role in the regulation of plant communities and vertebrate and invertebrate populations. A survey of mammal richness and abundance within riparian microhabitats is being conducted in Shawnee State Forest, Portsmouth, Ohio. Specifically, our study seeks to document fauna, compare diversity among habitats, and investigate efficacy of trapping equipment. Twenty-one mechanical traps including Sherman (three sizes), Pitfall, and Trip-Traps, are set within each of five established transects once weekly. Traps are randomly baited with oats and brown sugar, wet or dry cat food and peanut butter, or tuna. Trapping will continue until May of 2021 for a total of 840 trap nights, after which statistical analyses will be used to determine if diversity, trap type, or bait preferences differed significantly between microhabitat, trap, and bait types, respectively.