Edaphic control of habitat selection by kangaroo mice (Microdipodops) in three Nevadan populations.

Abstract

The influence of soil texture on habitat selection by kangaroo mice was evaluted at three areas - Lincoln, Nye, and Pershing Counties, Nevada, where Microdipodops megacephalus and M. pallidus are sympatric.All rodents captured on surveyed grids were marked by toe-clipping and released where they were caught. Soils were sampled chiefly at the positions of traps which had captured kangaroo mice. A soil was classified as sand if 95% (by weight) or more of a sample passed a 2.00-mm sieve, and as gravel if less material passed the sieve. In the areas investigated, a Sarcobatus baileyi-Atriplex confertifolia community predominated.Capture-recapture data from the three study areas were both evaluted individually for each plot and pooled. Although the distribution of M. pallidus was shown to be random with regard to soil type, M. megacephalus was captured almost exclusively on gravel. Comparison of the species using pooled data showed a highly significant difference (p=0.001) in the types of soil on which they were captured. Theoretical implications of the study are discussed.