Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Wang, Guiming

Committee Member

Strickland, Bronson

Committee Member

Jones, C. Jeanne

Committee Member

Riffell, Sam

Date of Degree

8-8-2009

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Wildlife and Fisheries Science

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Forest Resources

Department

Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture

Abstract

Short-lived rodents are sensitive to changes in environmental conditions and exhibit annual fluctuations under seasonal environments in northern temperate regions. I analyzed 34 years of monthly live-trapping data on whiteooted mice (Peromyscus leucopus) collected in Carter Woods, Ohio. I used a theoretic-information approach to select the best approximating models and analysis of deviance to infer effects of climate and density on survival of mice. I tested for a cost of reproduction to females and found no difference in survival between reproductive states. Directions and magnitudes of effects of climate and density varied over time. Increased variability in temperature reduced effects of density on survival. I detected an Allee effect and density dependent effects on survival. Long-term trapping data are needed to study temporal effects of climate and density on the demography of rodents. Recruitment had a greater impact on population growth rate than survival

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/15319

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