Small mammals surveys, 1981 - 1996, Adirondack Long-Term Ecological Monitoring Program Project No. 10 by Adirondack Ecological Center of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Newcomb, New York. Environmental Data Initiative

Small mammals are important in forested ecosystems: they are key
predators on seeds and invertebrates, provide food for larger
predators and act as disease vectors. The objective of this study was
to document small mammal abundance and population changes in managed
and unmanaged forests of Huntington Wildlife Forest (HWF). Seven sites
were sampled from 1981-1996. Fifty traps per site (250 total) were
deployed for 4 nights and checked in the mornings. All captured small
mammals were identified, sexed, weighed, and measured for reproductive
condition, tagged, and brought into the lab for processing. Females
with embryos or placental scars were noted in the lab. Over a
five-year period, 671 deer mice; 261 woodland jumping mice, 594
southern redbacked voles, 248 short-tailed shrews, 373 masked shrews,
75 smoky shrews and small numbers of other species were captured and
sexed/aged. According to Prachar and Sage (1988), weights of deer
mice, redbacked voles, woodland jumping mice, short-tailed shrews,
masked shrews and smoky shrews differed among years and age classes
for 1983-1987. Weights differed between sexes for mice and voles but
not shrews. Placental scar/embryo counts of mice and voles did not
differ among years, habitats, mammal age classes or sexes.
Reproductive rates of shrews exhibited patterns of fluctuation from
1983-1987.