Movements of the deer mouse in response to prairie fire

TitleMovements of the deer mouse in response to prairie fire
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1988
AuthorsKaufman, DW, Gurtz, SK, Kaufman, GA
JournalThe Prairie Naturalist
Volume20
Pagination225 -229
Accession NumberKNZ00190
Keywordstallgrass prairie
Abstract

Movements of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) in response to spring fire were studied using a 13-ha study site on the Konza Prairie Research Natural Area, Kansas. Approximately one-half of the grid was burned on 19 April 1984 following two weeks of intensive sampling of small mammals; periodic censuses were then made during the first five weeks after the fire. Density on the grid more than doubled (20 to 43 individuals) from the two weeks immediately before to 3-5 weeks after the fire. This change resulted from the classic response of deer mice to conditions created by fire with an increase in the number of individuals using the burned portion (BURN) of the grid exclusively (prefire: 5, postfire: 22) as well as individuals using both the burned and unburned portions (UNBURN) of the grid (prefire: 1, postfire: 6), but not from individuals using the unburned portion of the grid exclusively (prefire: 14, postfire: 15). Due to the known ecological requirements and the rapidity of density response observed in earlier studies, we predicted that the increase in density of deer mice in burned relative to unburned prairie shortly after a spring fire was due to the net movement of individuals from unburned to burned prairie. Postfire movements of deer mice present before our experimental fire were consistent with our predictions; however, the number of individuals present was too small to demonstrate a significant pattern of differential movements. For deer mice originally caught during the first two weeks after fire and then recaptured 3-5 weeks after fire, the proportion of mice captured in UNBURN that shifted to partial or complete use of BURN (7 individuals shifted: 4 stayed) was significantly greater than the proportion of mice captured in BURN that shifted to partial or complete use of UNBURN (1 shifted: 8 stayed). These observations supported our general prediction that in response to fire the net movement of deer mice into burned prairie is greater than net movement of deer mice into unburned tall-grass prairie