Wood Mouse and Box Turtle Populations in an Area Treated Annually with DDT for Five Years

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
A 117-acre area of dense woodland on the Patuxent Research Refuge in Maryland received an aerial application of DDT in oil at the rate of 2 pounds per acre annually in late May or early June of each year from 1945 through 1949. DDT reached ground level only in thousandths to hundredths of a pound per acre. Field studies of wood mouse (Peromyscus leucopus noveboracensis) populations in treated and check areas showed no significant differences in the two areas before and after the 1949 DDT treatment. There was no significant difference in either this species or the box turtle (Terrapene c. Carolina),between trapping samples taken in DDT and check areas in 1945 and those taken in 1949. Growth of the four young turtles taken in DDT areas was normal.

This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit: