PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #20: Urban Ecosystems: Comparisons Across Biomes, Patterns and process.
Presiding: M. Carreiro
Monday, August 5. 1:00 PM to 3:45 PM. Grand Ballroom West, Radisson.
Small mammal species composition and abundance in urban forest patches.
NILON, CHARLES*,1, 1 University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO
ABSTRACT- My students and I have studied small mammal species composition and abundance in forest patches in three cities. We use a patch dynamics approach to understand how species compostion and abundance is influenced by the history of the patch (remnant, planted, or emergent), the matrix sturrounding the patch, and current factors influencing the habitat structure of the patch. We focus on two types of forest patches: large patches of remnant forest where we assume that species composition will be influenced largely by microhabitat structure; and small patches adjacent to residential neighbhoods where people and their activities may influence species composition. This approach may be useful in making comparisons in forest patches across a range of cities.
KEY WORDS: mammals, urban, conservation