Effects of disturbance on small mammal community structure in the New Jersey Pinelands, USA

Abstract

We compared small mammal community composition among undisturbed habitats and habitats disturbed by military operations on Warren Grove Gunnery Range (WGR) in the New Jersey Pinelands. WGR is one of the largest tracts of protected land within this globally rare ecosystem. Disturbance in the form of fire, mowing, soil disruption and logging has had a large effect on small mammal occurrence and distribution. Of the 14 small mammal species that occur in the Pinelands, 9 live on WGR, including large populations of the southern bog lemming (Synaptomys cooperi Baird, 1858) and meadow jumping mouse [Zapus hudsonius (Zimmermann, 1780)]. Simpson's Index of Diversity was 0 for most disturbed sites and was generally greater in wetlands than in uplands. White-footed mouse [Peromyscus leucopus (Rafinesque, 1818)] was the most common species on WGR and had a dominant effect on species diversity and community similarity indices. It dominated upland habitats and was the only species to occur in several disturbed habitats, whereas all 9 species occurred in wetlands. Principal components analysis indicated that most variation in species diversity was explained by disturbance and differences between upland and wetland habitats, due to presence of white-footed mice in disturbed and upland sites. Meadow jumping mice, southern bog lemmings and red-back voles [Myodes gapperi (Vigors, 1830)] were positively correlated with wetland habitats, and pine voles [Microtus pinetorum (Le Conte, 1830)], short-tail shrews [Blarina brevicauda (Say, 1823)] and eastern chipmunks [Tamias striatus (Linnaeus, 1758)] were associated with uplands. Habitat heterogeneity at WGR, including extensive undisturbed wetlands and uplands supported a rich diversity of small mammal species.