Analysis on Population Level Reveals Trappability of Wild Rodents Is Determined by Previous Trap Occupant.

ABSTRACT: Live trapping is central to the study of small mammals. Thus, any bias needs to be understood and accounted for in subsequent analyses to ensure accurate population estimates. One rarely considered bias is the behavioural response of individuals to the trap, in particular the olfactory cues left behind by previous occupants (PO). We used a data set of 8,115 trap nights spanning 17 separate trapping sessions between August 2002 and November 2013 in Wytham Woods, Oxfordshire, UK to examine if the decision to enter a trap was affected by the PO, if this was detectable in traditional Capture-Mark-Recapture trapping data (i.e., individuals not uniquely marked), and if it was possible for this effect to bias the population estimates obtained. Data were collected on Apodemus sylvaticus, Myodes gl

SUBMITTER: Brouard MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4687096 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature