Examination of small mammal diversity in the riparian areas of Walden, Tennessee

Vanderbilt, Forrest B. Examination of Small Mammal Diversity in the Riparian Areas of Walden, Tennessee Thesis under the direction of Robert D. Keller, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biology It has been hypothesized that riparian zones are prime conservation habitats and can be used as indicators of general ecosystem health (Montgomery 1996). Riparian zones, comprising a range of habitat types, typically exhibit higher biotic diversity when compared to adjacent upland hardwood forests (Batzli 1977, Cross 1985a, Cross 1985b, Doyle 1985, Knopf et al. 1988, Doyle 1990, Naiman and Decamps 1997, Ellison and van Riper III 1998, Olson and Knopf 1998). Therefore small mammal diversity and abundance should be greater in riparian areas when compared to contiguous upland hardwood forests. The intent of this study is to compare small mammal communities living within the two habitat types. Abundance trends were observed for two species: the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) and the eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus). Mammalian diversity of each habitat type was calculated using ShannonWiener indices. Demographic comparisons were made using the most prevalent species P. leucopus. Demographic comparisons of P. leucopus were not found to be significantly different between habitat types and survey sites. Overall species abundance and species diversity were found to be greater in the riparian area. The riparian area with a well-defined edge exhibited greatest abundance and diversity of species. This study suggests that the type of edge that defines a riparian boundary influences species abundance and species diversity.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Author dc:creator

• Vanderbilt, Forrest Brown

Contributors dc:contributor

• Keller, Robert
• Gaudin, Timothy; Tucker, John; Litchford, Gary
• College of Arts and Sciences

• Mammals--Tennessee--Hamilton County
• Riparian areas
• Mammal communities--Tennessee

Licence

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English, eng

Identifier

LB2369.2 .V362 2002

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholar.utc.edu:theses-2127