TY - THES T1 - Factors influencing nightly activity of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) in tallgrass prairie Y1 - 2005 A1 - Rehmeier, R.L. KW - Activity-monitoring system KW - kansas KW - Nocturnal KW - PIT tag KW - reproduction KW - rodent AB -

Little is known about nightly activity patterns of nocturnal small mammals under natural conditions, and how these activity patterns might be affected by photoperiod, season, and sex, age, and reproductive status of individuals. The main objectives of this research were: 1) to find an appropriate method for marking individual deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) so that their activity could be monitored remotely; 2) to design a portable activity-monitoring system to investigate temporal patterns of shelter use by deer mice under natural conditions; 3) to determine the influence of environmental conditions such as photoperiod and season on nightly activity of deer mice; and 4) to compare effects of demographic or physiological factors such as sex, age, and reproductive status on nightly activity of deer mice at artificial burrows in tallgrass prairie. In general, commencement of activity was correlated positively with timing of sunset, and time of retirement to the burrow was correlated positively with sunrise. Among adults, males first emerged from the burrow earlier and made more trips of shorter duration in a night than did females, although total duration of trips was similar. Return visits and subsequent stays typically were shorter for males than females, but total time spent in the burrow and retirement time relative to sunrise were similar for both sexes. Young deer mice emerged significantly later, made more trips of shorter duration, spent less total time outside, and retired to their burrow earlier than adults. Reproductive females emerged later, made fewer trips of generally longer duration, and spent shorter total amounts of time away from the burrow each night than non-reproductive females. Return visits of reproductive females were of longer duration than non-reproductives, but total time spent inside and time of retirement for the night did not differ relative to reproductive status. From parturition through lactation, activity of females showed a number of directional trends. Results suggest that under natural conditions, activity patterns of deer mice are highly variable but responsive to both the changing physical environment and internal conditions related to sex-specific maximization of fitness.

PB - Kansas State University CY - Manhattan,KS VL - PhD Dissertation UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2097/139 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Size preference for novel objects by the eastern woodrat (Neotoma floridana) under field conditions JF - Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science Y1 - 1984 A1 - Kaufman, D.M. A1 - D.W. Kaufman KW - rodent KW - woodrat AB -

Natural objects such as branches, leaves, bones and rocks are used in the construction and maintenance of houses by eastern woodrats. Woodrats also use novel items, e.g. pieces of metal, introduced into their home ranges. Ireland and Hays (1969) took advantage of this tendency and examined home range size from observations of the use of number tinfoil balls by woodrats. We examined the use of novel items, aluminum foil balls, plased in areas used by woodrats under field conditions to answer two general questions: 1) Do woodrats exhibit a size preference for novel items? 2) Does preference vary with distance between the house or burrow and the available items?

VL - 87 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Comparison of the diets of a caching and a noncaching rodent JF - The American Naturalist Y1 - 1983 A1 - Reichman, O.J. A1 - Fay, P.A. KW - diet KW - rodent AB -

We hypothesized that species which regularly cache food should have more diverse diets while feeding on their stores than species which have not evolved general caching behaviors. Such a diet by caching species would tend to reduce the probability of being left with only poor dietary items late in the period of cache use. To test this hypothesis, we designed an experiment to compare the diets of caching and noncaching species following a period of experimental feeding trials which simulated a caching situation

VL - 122 UR - https://www.jstor.org/stable/2461210 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Effects of fire on rodents in tallgrass prairie of the Flint Hills region of eastern Kansas JF - The Prairie Naturalist Y1 - 1983 A1 - D.W. Kaufman A1 - Kaufman, G.A. A1 - Finck, E.J. KW - rodent KW - tallgrass prairie AB -

Fire in tallgrass prairie reduces the amount of litter on the soil surface and enhances primary productivity in the first year following a fire. If the site is left unburned and ungrazed, a gradual increase in litter depth and a decrease in primary productivity occurs during the first few years following a fire. Based on these habitat changes and the habitat selection and food habits of prairie rodents, e.g., Peromyscus maniculatus, Reithrodontomys megalotis and Microtus ochrogaster, major shifts in rodent density should occur the first few years following a fire. We trapped four sites, each representing a different year of a 4-year cycle of burning, to analyze the effect of periodic fires on rodent populations in the tallgrass prairie. We also trapped a study site that is burned annually for comparison of the effect of annual fires to the 4-year cycle. Data are also presented to examine the effects of time since fire and fire frequency on rodent population

VL - 15 ER -