Distinguishing between northern salt marsh and western harvest mice

Sustaita, Diego; Brown, Sarah K.; Barthman–Thompson, Laureen; Estrella, Sarah; Patterson, Laura; Finfrock, Patty Q.; Villablanca, Francis X.

doi:10.1002/jwmg.21421

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Brown (2003) identified mice from Suisun Marsh with mtDNA, and developed dichotomous keys to differentiate SMHM and WHM based on external characters. Comprehensive extensions of Brown's (2003) work have resulted in more refined statistical models to use the most important characteristics to differentiate between species (Sustaita et al 2018). Although promising, these models remain limited to the northern sub-species, and even there they are unable to classify young and small harvest mice.…”

Section: Taxonomy and Geneticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse Recovery: A Review

Smith¹,

Riley²,

Barthman–Thompson³

et al. 2018

SFEWS

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The salt marsh harvest mouse (SMHM, Reithrodontomys raviventris) is an endangered species, endemic to the San Francisco Estuary. Despite being protected for almost half a century and being included in a large number of recovery, restoration, and management plans, significant data gaps hinder conservation and management of the species, a challenge further complicated by developing threats such as climate change. In this review, we present the current state of knowledge; highlight research gaps on habitat requirements and distribution, taxonomic status and genetic structure, physiology, reproduction and demographics, population dynamics, and behavior and community interactions; and present an overview of threats to the species. Our review indicates that substantial data gaps exist; although some aspects of SMHM ecology, such as habitat use, have been addressed extensively, others, such as the effects of environmental contamination, are largely unaddressed. We suggest that conservation and restoration-planning processes consider experimental approaches within restoration designs to address these deficiencies. Continued investment in basic and applied SMHM ecology to collect baseline and longterm data will also be beneficial. Additionally, further coordination among managers and researchers can facilitate more effective responses to uncertainties and emerging threats, especially climate change, which threatens the SMHM and its habitat throughout its range.

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Section: Taxonomy and Geneticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse Recovery: A Review

Smith¹,

Riley²,

Barthman–Thompson³

et al. 2018

SFEWS

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“…C; Zetterquist ; Botti et al ; Shellhammer et al , ; Sustaita et al ; Smith et al ), though these areas were frequently considered marginal when compared to tidal wetlands dominated by pickleweed (Zetterquist , Botti et al , Shellhammer et al ). Additionally, to some unknown extent, some of our understanding, or misunderstanding, of habitat preferences by salt marsh harvest mice may reflect substantial challenges in field identification of sympatric harvest mice (Statham et al , Sustaita et al ).…”

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confidence: 99%

Waterfowl management and diet of the salt marsh harvest mouse

Smith

Kelt

2019

J Wildl Manag

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The salt marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris) is an endangered species, endemic to the marshes of the San Francisco Bay, California, USA. This species is thought to feed primarily on pickleweed (Salicornia pacifica), although its diet is poorly understood, and a large proportion of remaining habitat for salt marsh harvest mice is managed for non‐pickleweed vegetation to provide habitat for waterfowl. Using 2 sets of cafeteria trials, we tested food preferences of the salt marsh harvest mouse when offered a variety of plants and invertebrates from the Suisun Marsh, Solano County, California. In a set repeated menu, and unique seasonal menus, salt marsh harvest mice showed strong preferences for food types commonly grown for waterfowl, and also for non‐native plants; in contrast, pickleweed was the most preferred during only some of the set and some of the seasonal trials. These results suggest that salt marsh harvest mice have a more flexible diet than previously thought, and will allow land managers in areas such as the Suisun Marsh to promote the growth of plants that provide foods that are preferred by both waterfowl and salt marsh harvest mice. © 2019 The Authors. The Journal of Wildlife Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Wildlife Society.

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“…Use of genetic species identification revealed that morphological assignment methods were inadequate in the range of the southern SMHM, where only ~50% were correctly identified (Statham et al 2016). This was the case regardless of whether mice were being identified using the tail scoring method (Shellhammer 1984; USFWS and others), or the multiple logistic regression (Sustaita et al, 2018;CDFW). This finding essentially invalidated cur-rent morphological methods for the identification of harvest mice species within the range of the southern SMHM, leaving the identification reliant solely on genetic analyses.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fundamental to monitoring, management, and conservation of endangered species is the ability to identify them in the field. Correct identification is essential for accurate characterization of the species' range, habitat, abundance, demography, population trends, and dietary requirements (Smith et al 2018;Sustaita et al 2018;Quinn et al 2019;Statham et al 2019). Erroneous identification leads to a false characterization of these parameters, which in turn invalidates conservation assessments and other scientific conclusions.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Development of a morphological key for the southern salt marsh harvest mouse using genetically verified individuals

Statham

Barthman–Thompson

Fresquez

et al. 2021

California Fish and Wildlife Journal

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The salt marsh harvest mouse (SMHM; Reithrodontomys raviventris) is a state and federally listed endangered species endemic to the coastal marshes of the San Francisco Estuary of California. Of two subspecies, the southern (R. r. raviventris) is most endangered and lacks reliable morphological field tools to distinguish from the sympatric western harvest mouse (WHM; R. megalotis). We trapped and collected genetic samples and morphological data from 204 harvest mice from 14 locations from across the range of the southern SMHM. Genetic species identification indicated these to be composed of 48 SMHM and 156 WHM, which we compared at ten morphological characters. Most continuous characters overlapped between species. Color characters were significantly differentiated and we identified a number of species-specific diagnostic pelage categories in both species. A random forest analysis indicated that ventral coloration of the abdomen and the ventral tail hair color were the most useful for differentiating between species. We used these two morphological characters to develop a decision tree which correctly classified 94% of harvest mice to species with 99% accuracy. These findings suggest that our decision tree can be used to reliably identify the species of most harvest mice in the range of the southern SMHM, with a small proportion (6% in our study) needing genetic confirmation. The decision tree should be tested on additional harvest mice that were not used in its development, particularly from novel locations across the range.

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Distinguishing between northern salt marsh and western harvest mice

Cited by 9 publications

References 24 publications

Towards Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse Recovery: A Review

Towards Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse Recovery: A Review

Waterfowl management and diet of the salt marsh harvest mouse

Development of a morphological key for the southern salt marsh harvest mouse using genetically verified individuals

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