Small mammal relative abundance within riparian ecosystems of the Blue Mountains

There is a growing interest and investment in restoring riparian areas in the Pacific Northwest to protect biodiversity and water quality, and to restore quality habitat for threatened fish species. However, these management activities change vegetation conditions and potentially impact terrestrial species in these ecosystems. Our objective was to estimate associations between small mammals and 4 broad cover types-conifers, shrubs, grasses, and forbs-in riparian areas within the Blue Mountains of northeast Oregon, USA. We estimated abundances and spatial association for 10 small mammal species using a multispecies hierarchical abundance model and mark-recapture data collected on 36 sites from 2014 to 2017. We predicted that forest-associated species would be more abundant with greater conifer cover, that increases in shrub cover would favor most species, and that increases in grass and forb cover would favor grassland-associated species. Yellow-pine chipmunks (Tamias amoenus) were positively associated with conifer cover, while long-tailed voles (Microtus longicaudus) and montane voles (Microtus montanus) were negatively associated with conifer cover. Associations with shrub cover were positive for bushy-tailed woodrats (Neotoma cinerea), deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), and yellow-pine chipmunks, but negative for montane voles. Bushy-tailed woodrats and montane voles were negatively associated with grass cover. This study is the first to characterize the riparian small mammal communities in this region and provides insights on the effects of restoration activities on riparian ecosystems in dry interior forests and grasslands. We suggest that riparian plantings, a ubiquitous restoration practice, will increase the relative abundances for some, but not all, small mammal species. We also demonstrate use of a new multi-species abundance model that can be a powerful tool for analyzing mark-recapture data because it allowed us to extend the scope of our analysis to data poor species by pooling information with data rich species.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the associations between small mammals and four broad cover types in riparian areas within the Blue Mountains of northeast Oregon, USA. It found positive and negative associations between different species and vegetation cover types, and demonstrated the use of a new multi-species abundance model for analyzing mark-recapture data.