Hog Island VA Small-Mammal Trapping 1989-2020

This dataset contains information on long-term small mammal trapping on the Virginia Coast Reserve LTER. Four transects on Hog Island are included in the data, each of which was trapped at least twice each year, typically in the spring and autumn (note: Transect T2 was not trapped every year). Along each transect Sherman Live Traps were placed every 12.5 m along the transect, with an alternating offset of 2.5 m (to remove traps from the path running down the transect). This leaves a total inter-trap distance of 15 m. Traps were baited with peanut butter wrapped in waxed paper and were run sequentially for at least 3 nights in a row. Traps in areas that would experience tidal flooding were placed on styrofoam plastic platforms to provide flotation during high tides. Captured animals were individually tagged with numbered fingerling fish tags placed in the right ear, inspected for sex and sexual characteristics, weighed with a spring scale to the nearest gram and released at the point of capture.

该数据集收录了弗吉尼亚海岸保护区长期生态研究（Long Term Ecological Research, LTER）站点小型哺乳动物长期诱捕的相关数据，包含霍格岛（Hog Island）上的4条样带的诱捕记录。每条样带每年至少开展两次诱捕工作，通常分别于春季和秋季实施（注：T2样带并非每年均开展诱捕）。沿每条样带，研究者以12.5米的间距布设谢尔曼活捕笼（Sherman Live Traps），并以2.5米的间隔交错布置，以避免捕笼落入样带通行路径，最终捕笼间的总间距为15米。捕笼以蜡纸包裹的花生酱作为诱饵，且连续开展至少3晚的诱捕工作。对于易受潮汐淹没的区域，捕笼被安置在聚苯乙烯塑料浮台上，以在涨潮时提供浮力。捕获的个体将通过在右耳佩戴带编号的幼鱼标签实现个体标识，随后对其性别及生殖发育特征进行检查，使用弹簧秤称重至最接近的克级精度，最后在捕获原地将其放归。