An experimental study of habitat selection by the deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus, on Mandarte Island, B.C.

Abstract

Mandarte Island, British Columbia, Canada, consists of a mosaic of shrubbery and grassland habitats. In a 6-month study, deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus, were found to live at high absolute density and at higher relative densities in shrubbery habitat. A removal experiment was conducted to investigate how the habitat preference and density of mice affect their distribution on Mandarte Island. All resident mice were removed from an area containing both shrubbery and grassland. This gave mice dispersing from other areas the opportunity to colonize these two vacant habitats. Mice settled first in the shrubbery. As population density increased, some later colonists occupied the less favoured grasslands. I suggest that intraspecific interaction, associated with high density, was sufficient to prevent settlement of some individuals in the preferred habitat.