MODELING PLASTICITY IN RODENT RESPONSES TO THE LUNAR CYCLE FOLLOWING HABITAT MODIFICATION

Jackson L Tenney; University of Nevada, Reno; jacksontenney@gmail.com; Kevin T Shoemaker, Danielle C Miles

It is well established that many rodent species alter their activity levels across the different phases of the lunar cycle. Previous studies indicate that perceived predation risk from increased moonlight can alter foraging activity to an extent that causes population shifts comparable to those caused by actual predation. However, the extent to which these behavioral cycles within rodent populations are plastic is not yet understood. Conifer woodland removal projects, used by land management agencies to restore sagebrush habitat, provide geographically dispersed experimental replicates to measure potential activity and population shifts in response to increased exposure to moonlight from reduced canopy cover. To assess how habitat changes translate to behavioral shifts in rodent populations, we conducted a 4-year BACI study design across five project regions in the northern Great Basin. We assessed weekly recapture rates as a metric of activity for over 5,000 capture occasions of 24 rodent species. Our trapping efforts spanned the vegetation gradient from open sagebrush to dense woodland cover within each transect and included diurnal-species control groups. This allowed us to isolate changes in the relationship between activity and moonlight, increasing our understanding of how rodent populations vary their behaviors in response to habitat change.

Small Mammal Ecology and Conservation   Student Paper InPerson Presentation