Shenko, Alicia Nicole. The influence of small mammals on succession and restoration of post-agricultural wetlands. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T34F1NV8
DescriptionAdvancements in modern industry and technology are creating an abundance of post-agricultural lands that are in need of skilled restoration efforts to manage the confluence of factors involved with whole-ecosystem functioning. The influence of small mammals in succession and restoration has been undervalued in traditional restoration studies. This study uses post-agricultural cranberry farms to help answer questions surrounding the role of small mammals in their succession and restoration. The first chapter investigates those species inhabiting post-agricultural wetlands and how they compare to more natural species assemblages in reference locations. Meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) were the most abundant species present and had a strong correlation to post-agricultural sites with wet habitat characteristics; the second-most abundant species present, white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus), had a strong correlation to sites with dry characteristics. Post-agricultural wetlands were more similar to each other than to any more natural reference locations. The second chapter investigates the diet of the meadow vole through microhistological fecal analysis and discusses the impact diet has on vegetative characteristics of post-agricultural wetlands. Meadow voles were found to ingest significant amounts of vegetation (grasses, sedges, rushes, leaves of shrubs, mosses), as well as minimal quantities tree leaves, shrub stems, flowers, fungus, seeds, and insects. Meadow vole herbivory on specific vegetation is evidence that high numbers of this species can alter characteristics of post-agricultural wetlands. The third chapter investigates the potential for small mammals to influence post-agricultural wetlands by dispersing seeds through defecation. Greenhouse trials had low rates of seedling establishment from meadow voles, but evidence suggests that this species has the ability to participate in endozoochory. The fourth chapter additionally investigates small mammal diet by proposing genetic methodology for exploring insectivory using unique regions of 18S rRNA and gel electrophoresis to distinguish insect orders by size. The ability to process this level of diet composition data without more expensive techniques such as sequencing would allow for expanded investigations at multiple levels. Overall, this research highlights the significant difference in small mammal species assembly within post-agricultural wetlands and the impact that these species can have when they occur in abundance within post-agricultural wetlands.