Contributions of Resident Populations and Nonresident Activities of Small Mammals to the Results of Censuses Performed Using the Permanent Removal Method

Abstract

Population demography parameters of common small mammals have been obtained using two different census methods and intercompared. Resident population density and nonresident activity parameters were obtained on live-trap lines using the capture–mark–recapture method. Abundance parameters were obtained on break-back trap lines using the permanent removal (PR) method. Censuses performed using the PR method reflect the population dynamics of small mammals in general, but they may misrepresent the species ratio in the community. Multiple regression analysis shows that results obtained using the PR method are significantly affected both by the resident population density and nonresident activity of the species. Together, these factors explain 88.8% of the variance, while their individual contributions assessed on the basis of semipartial correlations in the multiple correlation model are as follows: r = 0.39 (resident population) and r = 0.46 (nonresident activities).