Patterns and scale of habitat use in two temperate-zone, small mammal faunas

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Abstract
Small mammals were livetrapped and habitat quantified in replicates of 6 macrohabitats [Clethrionomys gapperi, Eutamias amoenus, Microtus longicaudus, M. pennsylvanicus, Peromyscus maniculatus and Sorex spp.] in Alberta and in temporal replicates of 4 macrohabitats [Blarina brevicauda, M. pennsylvanicus, P. leucopus and Zapus hudsonias] in Ontario, Canada. Similar patterns emerged in both locations. The relative abundances of small mammals depended upon macrohabitat; within macrohabitats, species differed significantly in microhabitat use. The patterns were dynamic and probably the result of habitat preference instead of species interactions. Macrohabitat differences may in part be outcomes of microhabitat selection, but are unlikely to be completely understood without superimposing colonization and extinction probabilities on habitat selection models. Field biologists must recognize both scales of habitat to interpret patterns of species distribution.

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