Abstract
We compared the monitoring of small terrestrial mammals among forest stands by pitfalls and snap traps. The captures took place in the Czech Republic in the Moravskoslezske Beskydy Mts. (2007?2012) on 16 plots in adult beech and spruce stands between 910 and 1220 m a.s.l. In total, 14 species of small mammals were captured (12 in the snap traps and 10 in the pitfalls). Snap traps captured the broader species spectrum and they were more successful in capturing larger species of small terrestrial mammals consuming a higher proportion of plant food (mice, and in particular voles). The pitfalls were more effective in capturing smaller species with a predominance of animal food (shrews). To cover the widest species spectrum of small mammals, it is appropriate to use both types of traps. To observe the functional diversity of the community in terms of food composition, it is sufficient to use snap traps.
Highlights
We compared the monitoring of small terrestrial mammals among forest stands by pitfalls and snap traps
There is a predominant consensus that snap traps are more suitable for trapping rodents, while for the description of shrew communities, it is preferable to use pitfalls
Taxonomic affiliation is more important than body size
Summary
We compared the monitoring of small terrestrial mammals among forest stands by pitfalls and snap traps. Different types of traps (snap traps, pitfalls, live traps) are mostly used to describe communities of small mammals (e.g., Sheftel, 2018). Some authors recommend to combine both types of traps to capture the overall community of small terrestrial mammals because they give different results (Kalko and Handley, 1993; Nicolas and Colyn, 2006).
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