The Effect of Stress Level and Parasite Load on the Movement Pattern of the White-footed Mouse Within a Fragmented Landscape

The Effect of Stress Level and Parasite Load on the Movement Pattern of the White-footed Mouse Within a Fragmented Landscape
Author: Jorge Gaitan Camacho
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Release: 2015
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"Lyme disease is an infectious zoonotic disease caused by the spirochete bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. In North America, it has a number of vertebrate hosts including the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus). The disease is transmitted to other vertebrates, including humans, through the bite of an infected black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis). In recent years there has been an increase in the incidence of Borrelia burgdorferi in southern Quebec, coinciding with the range expansion of the white-footed mouse and the black-legged tick in the region. This increasing distribution of reservoir and vector will undoubtedly favour the emergence and spread of Lyme disease in the parts of the province where they both become more abundant. As a generalist species, the white-footed mouse is favoured in fragmented landscapes like the Monteregie area, where it has been displacing the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus), its local competitor. In this region we evaluated the effects of stress level, parasite load and some forest patch characteristics on white-footed mouse movement patterns. We found a negative effect of the adrenal gland size, a proxy for stress level, on the home range area and the movement rate of mouse individuals, suggesting that stressed mice cannot defend large home ranges. White-footed mouse population densities had a negative effect on the home range area and on the movement rate, consistent with higher competition rates and conflict avoidance behaviours in these sites. Population density also influenced the excursion (outside the forest patch) and exploration (outside the home range) rates, either directly or indirectly through its effect on home range area and movement rate. Finally, we found that the load of ticks had a negative effect on movement rate. P. leucopus densities and stress levels are good predictors of the movement patterns in this species and can be used to better understand its dispersal dynamics at the front of its distribution range. This will contribute to better predict the rate and pattern of Lyme disease expansion and identify high-risk areas for the disease." --

The Influence of Habitat and Landscape Structure on the Genetic Differentiation of the White-footed Mouse (Peromyscus Leucopus)

The Influence of Habitat and Landscape Structure on the Genetic Differentiation of the White-footed Mouse (Peromyscus Leucopus)
Author: Robby Marrotte
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Release: 2013
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"The white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) is a widespread habitat generalist species abundant over a large part of the North-American continent. In the past decade, due to climate and land use change, the range of this species has expanded northwards into Canada. The black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis), is the vector of Lyme disease which also has tracked climate change over the last few decades. This may have been further promoted by the growing presence of P. leucopus, a favored host for the tick. Therefore, aspects of the landscape that affect the movement and distribution of the white-footed mouse, will also affect the expansion of the tick, and consequently the spread of Lyme disease. In this thesis, I first reviewed published results that relied on genetic and non- genetic biological data to investigate the influence of local habitat and landscape characteristics on the movement and dispersal patterns in the white footed-mouse. Next, I evaluated the relations between breeding habitat and landscape resistance against the genetic differentiation between 11 populations in Montérégie, Québec, Canada. I was able to simultaneously measure the effect of the habitat and the landscape on the genetic differentiation of these mouse populations by utilizing numerical optimization to fit a model to previously published genetic data. I used ecological distance computed from resistance surfaces with Circuitscape to infer the effect of the landscape. Concurrently, I estimated the habitat quality of our sampling localities and correlated these to relevant habitat measurements. I found that both characteristics within and between forest patches have more of an impact on genetic differentiation than the geographical distance between the mice populations. This suggests that this species can disperse and use a wide range of habitats, in accordance with its recent rapid expansion in the region." --

Effects of Forest Fragmentation on the Abundance, Distribution, and Population Genetic Structure of White-footed Mice (Peromyscus Leucopus)

Effects of Forest Fragmentation on the Abundance, Distribution, and Population Genetic Structure of White-footed Mice (Peromyscus Leucopus)
Author: Christine Schandorsky Anderson
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Release: 2004
Genre: Fragmented landscapes
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Fragmentation of forests has led to the creation of forest patches that differ in size, proportion of edge habitat, and degree of isolation. Although densities of many mammalian species are positively related to patch area, there appears to be a general negative relationship between density of white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) and patch area. In Chapters 2 - 5, I investigated both resource-based (i.e., vegetation characteristics) and dispersal-based (i.e., inhibited dispersal and sink) hypotheses to explain the negative density - area relationship using live-trapping data and DNA-microsatellite analyses. As an extension of how forest fragmentation may affect movements by this habitat generalist into and out of habitats, in Chapter 6 I focused on how patch isolation influences population genetic structure. Data were collected from 1999 to 2001 in 15 different patches of various sizes and degrees of isolation. I confirmed that relative abundance of P. leucopus was negatively related to forest patch area (Chapter 2). My results indicated that relative abundance of P. leucopus was positively related to structural complexity of understory vegetation and total basal area of trees, and tended to be negatively related to the species richness of trees (Chapter 2 and 3). Although I was unable to differentiate whether understory vegetation results in higher relative abundances due to food or cover, the results suggest that vegetation characteristics contribute to the negative density - area relationship. Based on live-trapping data and DNA-microsatellite analyses, I rejected both dispersal-based hypotheses to explain the effect of patch area on relative abundance of P. leucopus (Chapters 4 and 5). Within-population genetic variation was high across populations, and only 50% of individuals could be assigned to their population of capture based on multilocus genotypes, suggesting high rates of gene flow. Degree of isolation and landscape structure had a small but significant influence on population genetic structure in this species (Chapter 6). This project illustrates the habitat generalist behavior and good dispersal ability of white-footed mice, but it appears that both abiotic and biotic factors, including competition and predation, are important in explaining the effects of forest fragmentation on P. leucopus.

The Effects of Predation and Supplemental Food on Foraging and Abundance of White-footed Mice (Peromyscus Leucopus) in Relation to Forest Patch Size

The Effects of Predation and Supplemental Food on Foraging and Abundance of White-footed Mice (Peromyscus Leucopus) in Relation to Forest Patch Size
Author: Gregory James Marcello
Publisher:
Total Pages: 35
Release: 2005
Genre: Peromyscus leucopus
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The purpose of this study was to examine some of the possible causes for the negative density-area relationship reported for the white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus. I examined predation and food availability in three small and three large forest fragments. Giving up density trays and various odors were used to test the variation in foraging behavior in the presence of a predator odor. Nest boxes and counts of periodical cicada emergence holes were used to test the effects of an emergence of periodical cicadas on P. leucopus population densities. Predator odors had no effect on foraging behaviors. P. leucopus responded to indirect, but not direct, cues of predation. Estimated densities of periodical cicada emergence holes were strongly related to the relative population density of P. leucopus. Continued study of predation and food differences in forest fragments of different sizes is needed to further examine the negative density-area relationship of P. leucopus.