Zuleika Cruz Effects of Mink Urine on Trappability of Small Mammals: Peromyscus maniculatus, Peromyscus leucopus, Tamias striatus, Myodes gapperi and Blarina brevicauda. BIOS 35502-01: Practicum in Field Environmental Biology

Long-term population fluctuations of small mammals at the UWM Field Station

Population sizes of four small mammals, Peromyscus leucopus, Microtus pennsylvanicus, Blarina brevicauda, and Sorex cinereus, were monitored for over twenty years at the UWM Field Station. F\ leucopus had moderate fluctuations in size, but showed no evidence of cyclic or regular fluctuations. M. pennsylvanicus exhibited dramatic fluctuations with cycles of 3-5 years. Neither shrew species appea...

Intraspecific functional diversity of common species enhances community stability

Common species are fundamental to the structure and function of their communities and may enhance community stability through intraspecific functional diversity (iFD). We measured among-habitat and within-habitat iFD (i.e., among- and within-plant community types) of two common small mammal species using stable isotopes and functional trait dendrograms, determined whether iFD was related to sho...

BIOS 35502-01: Practicum in Field Environmental Biology Potential Changes of Seed Predation of Tamias striatus

Eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus) is seed predator that has the ability to affect the diversity and abundance of certain tree species in a forest. This study tested the seed preference of eastern chipmunks on the border of Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at University of Notre Environmental Research Center. Cafeteria style feeding trials were done in a laboratory to test the pref...

Habitat preferences of Peromyscus leucopus, Blarina brevicauda and Glaucomys volans in Northern Lower Michigan

Reservoir Competence of Wildlife Host Species for Babesia microti

Human babesiosis is an increasing health concern in the northeastern United States, where the causal agent, Babesia microti, is spread through the bite of infected Ixodes scapularis ticks. We sampled 10 mammal and 4 bird species within a vertebrate host community in southeastern New York to quantify reservoir competence (mean percentage of ticks infected by an individual host) using real-time P...