Exploiting the Winter Trophic Relationship between Weasels (Mustela spp.) and their Microtine Prey as a Survey Method for Weasels in Meadow Ecosystems

IF 0.5 4区 环境科学与生态学 Q4 ECOLOGY Northwest Science Pub Date : 2020-01-28 DOI:10.3955/046.093.0303
W. Zielinski, M. Linnell, M. Schwartz, Kristy P. Pilgrim
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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Abstract Weasels can be important components of grassland and meadow communities where they influence the dynamics of small mammal populations which, in turn, can be keystone species in these communities. We evaluate a method for detecting and identifying two species of North American mustelines (i.e., Mustela frenata and M. erminea) in mountain meadow systems. It is based on previous knowledge that weasels often co-opt the winter nests of their vole (or lemming) prey and frequently deposit scats there. We exploit this aspect of the predator-prey relationship and describe how, when paired with genetic identification of species from scat, searching after spring melt for weasel scats in winter-constructed vole nests may be an alternative survey method for detecting weasels in meadows. Our work was conducted at the Sagehen Experimental Forest in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We discovered and examined 90 winter vole nests over four spring seasons, resulting in an average (SD) of 3.31 (1.81) nests found per survey hour per year. From these nests we collected an average of 0.57 (0.37) putative weasel scats per survey hour. Of the seven scats that were verified to be from a weasel, five were from M. frenata and two from M. erminea. This was a proof of concept effort, to which we conclude that searches of vole nests for scat that can be genetically verified as weasel should have a place in the biologist's toolkit. The method is likely to be the most efficient for obtaining a genetic sample for weasels in mountain meadow systems.
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利用黄鼠狼与猎物间的冬季营养关系作为草甸生态系统黄鼠狼的调查方法
黄鼠狼是草地和草甸群落的重要组成部分,它们影响着小型哺乳动物种群的动态,而小型哺乳动物种群反过来又可能是这些群落的关键物种。我们评估了一种在山地草甸系统中检测和鉴定两种北美野马(即Mustela frenata和M. erminea)的方法。基于先前的知识,黄鼠狼经常占用它们的田鼠(或旅鼠)猎物的冬季巢穴,并经常在那里留下粪便。我们利用了捕食者-猎物关系的这一方面,并描述了如何在春季融化后在冬季建造的田鼠巢中寻找黄鼠狼粪便,并结合从粪便中获得物种的遗传鉴定,这可能是一种检测草地上黄鼠狼的替代调查方法。我们的工作是在Sierra Nevada山脉的Sagehen实验森林进行的。我们在四个春季发现并检查了90个冬田鼠巢穴,平均(SD)为每年每调查小时发现3.31个(1.81个)巢。从这些巢中,我们平均每调查小时收集0.57(0.37)张假定的黄鼠狼粪便。在被证实来自鼬鼠的7枚粪便中,5枚来自M. frenata, 2枚来自M. erminea。这是一个概念的证明,我们得出的结论是,在田鼠的巢穴中寻找可以被遗传验证为黄鼠狼的粪便,应该在生物学家的工具箱中占有一席之地。该方法可能是获得山地草甸系统中黄鼠狼遗传样本的最有效方法。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Northwest Science
Northwest Science 环境科学-生态学
CiteScore
1.30
自引率
0.00%
发文量
23
审稿时长
>36 weeks
期刊介绍: The pages of Northwest Science are open to original and fundamental research in the basic, applied, and social sciences. All submissions are refereed by at least two qualified peer reviewers. Papers are welcome from authors outside of the Pacific Northwest if the topic is suitable to our regional audience.
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