Journal article
Vegetation influences urban Northern short-tailed shrew site occupancy
Urban ecosystems, Vol.28(1), pp.1-10
02/01/2025
DOI: 10.1007/s11252-024-01641-y
Abstract
Urbanization is a key contributor to biodiversity loss; however, cities are increasingly recognized as potential conservation sites. Urban conservation often focuses on vegetation management, management that requires understanding of the habitat relationships of urban species. Habitat relationships for species with important ecological roles may be particularly useful in planning such management. Northern short-tailed shrews (
Blarina brevicauda
), as both predators and prey, represent such species, but are understudied in urban settings. We investigated relationships between urban vegetation and Northern short-tailed shrew occupancy using data from live-trapping surveys of small mammals and field surveys of vegetation. We used these datasets to fit single-species, multi-season occupancy models. We found that occupancy rates increased with increasing understory cover and decreased with increasing turfgrass and tree-canopy cover, the latter potentially due to limitations imposed on understory development by low light in high canopy environments. Our study is the first study of urban Northern short-tailed shrew across a broad gradient of urbanization and suggests that urban vegetation management that maintains understory cover and reduces turfgrass could support this species and, in turn, its community in cities.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Vegetation influences urban Northern short-tailed shrew site occupancy
- Creators
- Marianna M. Wharff - Department of Biology, University of IowaRachel N. Larson - Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences, University of IowaHeather A. Sander - Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences, University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Urban ecosystems, Vol.28(1), pp.1-10
- Publisher
- Springer US
- DOI
- 10.1007/s11252-024-01641-y
- ISSN
- 1083-8155
- eISSN
- 1573-1642
- Number of pages
- 10
- Grant note
- University of Iowa Graduate Student Senate University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 02/01/2025
- Academic Unit
- Geographical and Sustainability Sciences
- Record Identifier
- 9984748260302771
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