Sherman Trap Survey of Small Mammal Diversity on French Creek Valley Conservancy Managed Properties

Landis, Heather

Sherman Trap Survey of Small Mammal Diversity on French Creek Valley Conservancy Managed Properties

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10456/57698

Author(s)

Landis, Heather

Date Issued

May 1, 2024

Abstract

Small mammals are an indispensable part of our ecosystems but are at risk for concerning population declines and biodiversity loss as a result of human interference. The French Creek Valley Conservancy (FCVC) is land trust based in Crawford County PA that’s committed to maintaining ecologically healthy properties. However, they have limited resources and personnel, which has created challenges to effectively surveying the organizations properties for small mammals. To fill this gap in knowledge, live trapping was conducted using Sherman traps at three sites managed by the FCVC: Greendale Cemetery, Lew’s Land, and Robert Brace Nature Reserve. Thirty traps were set each night for three consecutive nights. This three-night trapping period was performed twice at each of the three sites, once in late fall (11/10/23-11/12/23, 11/17/23-11/19/23, 12/8/23-12/10/23) and once in winter (2/7/24-2/15/24), for a total possible 180 captures per site. Captured mammals were identified, weighed, and released, and site data was recorded. There were 412 successful undisturbed trap nights across all sites and 78 captures, including white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) and deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). This study created a better understanding of small mammal community composition in the three properties, supplementing the camera trapping conducted in the past to create a more comprehensive view of biodiversity at the sites. This information can act as an additional factor to consider in future decisions made about the properties, and the methodology used in this study can be reused for future live trapping of small mammals.

Major

Environmental Science and Sustainability

Honors

Environmental Science and Sustainability, 2024

First Reader(s)

Pearce, Kelly