Semester
Spring
Date of Graduation
2002
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
College
Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design
Department
Wildlife and Fisheries Resources
Committee Chair
Petra Bohall Wood
Committee Co-Chair
John W. Edwards
Abstract
Mountaintop mine/valley fill is a large-scale form of strip mining whose effects on small mammals had not previously been examined. Small mammals were captured by Sherman trap and drift fence array (pitfall and funnel traps) on 3 treatments representing the mined landscape and intact forests representing the unmined condition. Peromyscus ( P. leucopus and maniculatus) dominated Sherman captures and were the most common array capture. Eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus), woodland jumping mice (Napaeozapius insignus), woodland voles (Microtus pinetorum), northern short-tailed shrews (Blarina brevicauda), and pygmy shrews (Sorex hoyi) were more common in forest treatments; Peromyscus, house mice (Mus musculus), southern bog lemmings ( Synaptomys cooperi), and masked shrews (S. cinereus) were more common in reclaimed treatments. These species were generally found in expected habitats. Allegheny woodrats (Neotoma magister) occupied drainage channels, a habitat use not found in literature. Boulders in channels form interstitial networks that may simulate rock outcrops, their typical habitat.
Recommended Citation
Chamblin, Howard Douglas, "Small mammal communities on a reclaimed mountaintop mine/valley fill landscape in southern West Virginia" (2002). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 1460.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/1460