Indices of Condition for Small Mammals

Leptospirosis in small mammals of Iran: II: Isolation of Leptospira grippotyphosa, from Mus musculus

Leptospirosis in small mammals of Iran; 1. Serologic tests and isolation of Leptospira hebdomadis from Apodemus sylvaticus

Can Body Condition and Somatic Indices be Used to Evaluate Metal-Induced Stress in Wild Small Mammals?

Wildlife is exposed to natural (e.g., food availability and quality, parasitism) and anthropogenic stressors (e.g., habitat fragmentation, toxicants). Individual variables (e.g., age, gender) affect behaviour and physiology of animals. Together, these parameters can create both great inter-individual variations in health indicators and interpretation difficulties. We investigated the relevance ...

New perspectives for estimating body condition from mass/length data: the scaled mass index as an alternative method

Body condition is assumed to influence an animal’s health and fitness. Various non-destructive methods based on body mass and a measure of body length have been used as condition indices (CIs), but the dominant method amongst ecologists is currently the calculation of residuals from an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression of body mass against length. Recent studies of energy reserves in smal...

Ecology of Small Mammals, Vegetation, and Avian Nest Survival on Private Rangelands in Nebraska

Small mammals can be an important bioindicator of ecosystem health. They serve as both predator and prey in many ecosystems. By means of live trapping and nest monitoring, we studied the ecological relationships between small mammals, avian nest survival, and vegetation composition and structure on six private ranches in the Sandhills of Nebraska during 2004. Our study documented six species (1...