Microhabitat selection by the Oscura Mountains Colorado Chipmunk (Neotamias quadrivittatus oscuraensis): an old-growth pinyon-juniper woodland specialist.

ABSTRACT: Habitat specialists have been largely overlooked in old-growth pinyon-juniper woodlands, despite specialists exhibiting heightened sensitivity to anthropogenic habitat loss. Furthermore, small mammal relationships within pinyon-juniper woodlands have most commonly been investigated via species abundance or habitat use, rather than habitat selection, thereby providing limited management metrics. We used the Oscura Mountains Colorado Chipmunk (Neotamias quadrivittatus oscuraensis) as a model organism to evaluate whether old-growth conditions drive resource selection by small mammals associated with pinyon-juniper woodlands. The goal of our study was to determine resources important to the chipmunk to inform management decisions. We evaluated microhabitat selection by testing a priori

SUBMITTER: O'Connell CN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11285167 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature