Effect of red imported fire ants on habitat use by hispid cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) and northern pygmy mice (Baiomys taylori)
- ISSN: 00384909
- DOI: 10.1894/0038-4909(2003)048<0419:EORIFA>2.0.CO;2
Abstract
We examined effects of the exotic fire ant Solenopsis invicta on habitat use by hispid cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) & northern pygmy mice (Baiomys taylori) over a 17-month period in an open grassland community in central Texas. We divided the study area into 10 adjacent plots. Five alternating plots were treated with an ant-toxic bait to reduce density of S. invicta. The remaining 5 plots were left untreated. We trapped small mammals monthly & calculated capture per unit effort for each small mammal species in each of 3 treatments (treated, untreated, border) each month. Trap months were partitioned into 2 seasons, summer & winter. Sigmodon hispidus altered habitat use, as indicated by capture per unit effort, in the presence of S. invicta during summer, & B. taylori did not alter habitat use in the presence of fire ants during either season.
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