FAS Abstracts 2004 Meeting Page

Biological Sciences (BIO B): BIO-22

|search by author| |return to BIO B 2004| |return to FAS 2004|

Is the response of the old-field mouse (Peromyscus polionotus rhoadsi) to a prescribed burn positive, negative or neutral? A. SUAZO (1,2) and A. DELONG (2). (1) Department of Environmental Protection, 1800 Wekiwa Circle, Apopka, FL 32712, (2) Department of Biological Sciences, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816. Prescribed burning is a tool used by land managers to maintain healthy ecosystems. Floral response to prescribed fires is well known for communities that are regularly burned. However, faunal response to prescribed fires is variable and poorly researched. We documented the population dynamics of the old-field mouse (Peromyscus polionotus rhoadsi) after a prescribed fire in old fields at Lake Louisa State Park, Lake County, Florida. Populations of old-field mice were live trapped for one year in burned and unburned sections. The number of individuals trapped in burned grids was not significantly different from the number of individuals trapped in control grids (Mann-Whitney, p=0.921). Moreover, we tested the hypothesis that burned grids act as population sinks. However, the number of recruits (ANOVA, p=0.279) and the persistence time of individuals (ANOVA, p=0.969) in burned versus control grids was not different. Our results indicate that burned grids do not act as sinks. In addition, a population on one of our control grids crashed 30 weeks post-fire and has not yet recovered.