PARENT SESSION
Poster Session 31: Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Species
Thursday, August 11, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM, Exhibit Hall 220 A-E, Level 2, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Multiple approaches to understanding the dynamics of a small mammal in habitats shaped by fire, salinity and hurricanes.
DeLong, Angelique*,1, Suazo, Alexis1, Kerserauskis, Megan1, Degner, Jacob1, Quintana-Ascencio, Pedro1, Roth, James1, Parkinson, Christopher1, Stout, I.*,1, 1 University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, 32816
ABSTRACT- Among the 7 subspecies of beach mice, the Southeastern beach mouse (SEBM, Peromyscus polionotus nivieventris) occupies the greatest diversity of habitats. This subspecies is now absent from most of its former range where habitat diversity was limited to coastal dunes with landward widths of < 200 m. Cape Canaveral, part of the Merritt Island complex, on the east-central coast of Florida, is unique in that dune and coastal scrub vegetation offers landward widths of up to 3 km. Nearly all of this land is under Federal management because of aerospace enterprises. These habitats have been subjected to lightening derived fires, various salinity stresses, and periodic hurricanes since the sea level stabilized about 5000 years ago. We are attempting to understand how the SEBM utilizes these various habitats. Six study grids distributed from coastal dunes to as much as 3 km inland have been trapped at biweekly intervals for two years to generate demographic data. Inland populations are less variable than coastal ones. Local portions of the coastal dunes experienced apparent total loss of beach mice following hurricanes in 2004. Recovery is site specific and may take months. Resource use based on fecal sample analysis and stable isotope ratios has demonstrated important differences between coastal and inland diets. Analysis of genetic structure using highly variable nuclear microsatellite markers indicates minor genetic isolation by distance. However, all sampled populations seem to exist as part of a dynamic metapopulation. Our data suggest that these populations will remain viable if the present mix of habitats remains intact with fire management as an essential component of conservation planning.
Key words: Southeastern beach mouse, Peromyscus polionotus nivieventris