Grazing Effects on Deer Mice with Implications to Human Exposure to Sin Nombre Virus.
Abstract: We examined the effects of grazing on deer mouse () movements into buildings using passive integrated transponder (PIT) technology and small simulated buildings located on 0.6-ha treatment (grazing) and control (no grazing) plots. Twelve experimental 9-day trials were conducted over the course of the study. During these trials, mouse movements into buildings were monitored during three time periods (each 3 days in length). In the treatment plots these time periods corresponded to pre-grazing, grazing, and post grazing by horses. The number of individual deer mice entering buildings over time decreased in both the grazed and control plots during the 9 days of each experiment. The number of entrances per/individual among the pre-grazing, grazing and post grazing periods was different between control and treated plots for both males and females. The distribution of entrances/individual among the three periods differed between males and females in both grazed and control plots. The habitat modification caused by grazing appeared to reduce deer mouse activity (entrances/individual) in buildings but does not affect the number of mice entering buildings. Reducing vegetative cover by grazing or mowing may not affect the number of mice investigating small structures but grazing creates different activity patterns in the structures for neighboring deer mice.
Publication Date: 2011-12-01 PubMed ID: 24910509PubMed Central: PMC4045612
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- Journal Article
Summary
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The researchers studied the impact of grazing on the activity of deer mice, particularly their movements into buildings, using a tracking technology and small building simulations in plots subject to grazing and no grazing treatments. They found that while the number of mice entering buildings over time decreased in both plots during their experiments, grazing altered the animals’ activity patterns within the structures.
Methodology
- The researchers employed passive integrated transponder (PIT) technology and simulated small buildings to track the movements of deer mice. The study was conducted on plots of 0.6 hectares, some of which were grazed by horses (treatment plots) and others not (control plots).
- Over the course of the study, twelve 9-day experimental trials were conducted. During these trials, mouse activity was monitored during three time periods of three days each. The time periods corresponded to pre-grazing, grazing, and post-grazing stages in the treatment plots.
Findings
- Over the 9-day trials, a decreasing trend was seen in the number of individual deer mice entering buildings in both grazed and control plots.
- Mice activity, measured as entrances per individual into the buildings, varied between the pre-grazing, grazing, and post-grazing periods. More importantly, these activity differences were observed to vary between control and treatment plots for both male and female mice.
- Furthermore, the frequency of entrances per individual differed between males and females in both the treated and control plots throughout the three time periods.
Implications
- The modification of the habitat due to grazing seemed to change deer mouse behaviours, particularly reducing their activity levels within buildings. Yet, it did not affect the total number of mice entering into those buildings.
- Hence, the study suggested that reducing vegetative cover, either by grazing or mowing, does not impact the number of mice investigating small structures. However, it creates different patterns of activity within structures for neighboring deer mice.
Overall, this study contributes to our understanding of how grazing might reshape mice behavior and potentially reduce human exposure to diseases carried by these animals, like the Sin Nombre virus. Further research could explore whether altering the amount or pattern of grazing could have significant impacts on disease transmission.
Cite This Article
APA
Leary AJ, Kuenzi AJ, Douglass RJ.
(2011).
Grazing Effects on Deer Mice with Implications to Human Exposure to Sin Nombre Virus.
Intermt J Sci, 17(1-4), 30-37.
Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- University of Montana, Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program, Missoula, MT 59812; Department of Biology, Montana Tech of the University of Montana, Butte, Montana 59701.
- Department of Biology, Montana Tech of the University of Montana, Butte, Montana 59701.
- Department of Biology, Montana Tech of the University of Montana, Butte, Montana 59701.
Grant Funding
- P20 GM103474 / NIGMS NIH HHS
- P20 RR016455 / NCRR NIH HHS
- P20 RR016455-10 / NCRR NIH HHS
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