Ecology, distribution, and predictive occurrence modeling of Palmer’s chipmunk (Tamias palmeri): a high-elevation small mammal endemic to the Spring Mountains in southern Nevada, USA

Lowrey, Christopher; Longshore, Kathleen M.; Riddle, Brett R.; Mantooth, Stacy J.

doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyw026

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 67 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Further, T . palmeri— endemic to the Spring Mountains in southern Nevada—has predicted constraints to lower slopes, near water sources, and within conifer forests above 2400m, and due to physiological constraints, high temperatures may force this species into higher elevations [ 55 ]. Rubidge et al (2010) found that one chipmunk species, T .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological niche modeling and distribution of Ornithodoros hermsi associated with tick-borne relapsing fever in western North America

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Tick-borne relapsing fever in western North America is a zoonosis caused by the spirochete bacterium, Borrelia hermsii, which is transmitted by the bite of infected Ornithodoros hermsi ticks. The pathogen is maintained in natural cycles involving small rodent hosts such as chipmunks and tree squirrels, as well as the tick vector. In order for these ticks to establish sustained and viable populations, a narrow set of environmental parameters must exist, primarily moderate temperatures and moderate to high amounts of precipitation. Maximum Entropy Species Distribution Modeling (Maxent) was used to predict the species distribution of O. hermsi and B. hermsii through time and space based on current climatic trends and future projected climate changes. From this modeling process, we found that the projected current distributions of both the tick and spirochete align with known endemic foci for the disease. Further, global climate models predict a shift in the distribution of suitable habitat for the tick vector to higher elevations. Our predictions are useful for targeting surveillance efforts in areas of high risk in western North America, increasing the efficiency and accuracy of public health investigations and vector control efforts.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological niche modeling and distribution of Ornithodoros hermsi associated with tick-borne relapsing fever in western North America

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Three studies evaluated microhabitat selection (i.e., third-order selection) in the eastern chipmunk ( T. striatus — Geier and Best 1980 ), the Colorado chipmunk ( N. quadrivittatus — Rivieccio et al 2003 ), and Palmer’s chipmunk ( N. palmeri ) and the Panamint chipmunk ( N. panamintinus — Lowrey and Longshore 2013 ). Three studies evaluated habitat selection at the landscape scale (i.e., first-order selection) in N. panamintinus ( Lowrey et al 2016 ) and a subspecies of the Colorado chipmunk, the Oscura Mountains Colorado chipmunk ( N. q. oscuraensis — Perkins-Taylor and Frey 2018 , 2020 ). It is possible that mammalogists have a misunderstanding about the habitat needs of many North American chipmunk species because of the lack of habitat selection studies and complete absence of multiscale habitat selection studies.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A case for multiscale habitat selection studies of small mammals

Schweiger

Frey

Cain

2021

Journal of Mammalogy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Habitat information for small mammals typically consists of anecdotal descriptions or infrequent analyses of habitat use, which often are reported erroneously as signifying habitat preference, requirements, or quality. Habitat preferences can be determined only by analysis of habitat selection, a behavioral process that results in the disproportionate use of one resource over other available resources and occurs in a hierarchical manner across different environmental scales. North American chipmunks (Neotamias and Tamias) are a prime example of the lack of studies on habitat selection for small mammal species. We used the Organ Mountains Colorado chipmunk (N. quadrivittatus australis) as a case study to determine whether previous descriptions of habitat in the literature were upheld in a multiscale habitat selection context. We tracked VHF radiocollared chipmunks and collected habitat information at used and available locations to analyze habitat selection at three scales: second order (i.e., home range), third order (i.e., within home range), and microhabitat scales. Mean home range was 2.55 ha ± 1.55 SD and did not differ between sexes. At the second and third order, N. q. australis avoided a coniferous forest land cover type and favored particular areas of arroyos (gullies) that were relatively steep-sided and greener and contained montane scrub land cover type. At the microhabitat scale, chipmunks selected areas that had greater woody plant diversity, rock ground cover, and ground cover of coarse woody debris. We concluded that habitat selection by N. q. australis fundamentally was different from descriptions of habitat in the literature that described N. quadrivittatus as primarily associated with coniferous forests. We suggest that arroyos, which are unique and rare on the landscape, function as climate refugia for these chipmunks because they create a cool, wet microclimate. Our findings demonstrate the importance of conducting multiscale habitat selection studies for small mammals to ensure that defensible and enduring habitat information is available to support appropriate conservation and management actions.

show abstract

Microhabitat use by plateau pikas: living on the edge

Paruchuri

Smith

Fan

et al. 2019

Journal of Mammalogy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mammals rely on habitat resources for survival and reproduction. We studied microhabitats used by plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Microhabitat features used by pikas include sedge meadows that provide forage, burrows that provide safety from predators and cover for nests, degraded open-dirt patches, and edges between sedge meadow and open dirt patches that often have a “lip” between those microhabitats. We investigated the extent to which these edges might serve as a preferred pika microhabitat. GIS techniques were used to overlay individual pika home ranges, determined by focal and scan sampling, on a digitized map containing microhabitat features. Regions that contained multiple coinciding individual home ranges, referred to as overlap polygons, were categorized numerically based on the number of individual home ranges that overlapped each polygon. These overlap polygons were used as relative measures of pika activity. We tested the spatial relationship between pika activity and the microhabitat features of edges, burrows, and proportional area of sedge. There was a significant relationship between the number of pikas in an overlap polygon and the number of pikas in an adjacent polygon. This pattern was controlled statistically to test whether activity was influenced by the presence of potentially favorable microhabitat features. Most of the variation in number of pikas that overlapped a habitat polygon was associated with the relative amount of “edge microhabitat” between sedge meadow and degraded open dirt patches (Cohen’s effect size, f2 = 0.91). Neither burrow openings nor sedge had a strong influence on the number of pika home ranges that overlapped. The importance of microhabitat edges appeared high for plateau pikas.

show abstract

Ecology, distribution, and predictive occurrence modeling of Palmer’s chipmunk (Tamias palmeri): a high-elevation small mammal endemic to the Spring Mountains in southern Nevada, USA

Cited by 4 publications

References 67 publications

Ecological niche modeling and distribution of Ornithodoros hermsi associated with tick-borne relapsing fever in western North America

Ecological niche modeling and distribution of Ornithodoros hermsi associated with tick-borne relapsing fever in western North America

A case for multiscale habitat selection studies of small mammals

Microhabitat use by plateau pikas: living on the edge

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About