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The Study and Analysis of Historic Allegheny Woodrat (Neotoma Magister) Sites

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The Study and Analysis of Historic Allegheny Woodrat (Neotoma Magister) Sites Montclair State University Montclair State University Digital Commons Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects 5-2018 The tudS y and Analysis of Historic Allegheny Woodrat (Neotoma magister) Sites Elizabeth Grietzer Montclair State University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd Part of the Biology Commons Recommended Citation Grietzer, Elizabeth, "The tudyS and Analysis of Historic Allegheny Woodrat (Neotoma magister) Sites" (2018). Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects. 131. https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/etd/131 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Montclair State University Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects by an authorized administrator of Montclair State University Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract: Allegheny woodrats (Neotoma magister) once ranged throughout most of the eastern United States, however in recent years their populations have experienced dramatic declines. Several mutually inclusive hypotheses may explain the decline of the woodrat populations, including habitat fragmentation and disturbance, decreased food availability, and increased exposure to the deadly raccoon roundworm (Baylisascaris procyonis). Select historic locations were evaluated for habitat characteristics, the prevalence of raccoon roundworm and the presence of predators and competitors, in order to evaluate the impacts of each of the three hypotheses. The results indicated that raccoon roundworm and decreased hard mast availability are the main drivers behind the extirpation of Allegheny woodrats at the four surveyed historic sites. Finally, each site was characterized and evaluated for its potential for future woodrat reintroductions. It is recommended that future research evaluates the remaining historic locations in New Jersey, in order to determine state-wide factors associated with the decline of Allegheny woodrat populations. 1 MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY The Study and Analysis of Historic Allegheny Woodrat (Neotoma magister) Sites By Elizabeth Grietzer A Master's Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Montclair State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Science in Biology, Ecology and Evolution Concentration May 2018 College: College of Science and Mathematics Thesis Committee: Department: Biology Thesis Sponsor: Randall FitzGerald Committee Member: Lisa Hazard 2 THE STUDY AND ANALYSIS OF HISTORIC ALLEGHENY WOODRAT (NEOTOMA MAGISTER) SITES A THESIS Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the Degree of Masters of Science in Biology, Ecology and Evolution Concentration By ELIZABETH GRIETZER Montclair State University Montclair, NJ May 2018 3 Acknowledgements: I would like to thank the Morris County Park Commission for the use of its property in conducting this research. I would also like to thank Kevin Alberta and Jon Van de Venter from Picatinny Arsenal, for helping me to access their property and assisting me with my research there. Thirdly, I would like to thank Mr. Don Gulliksen and the rest of the Green Pond Home Owners Association for their cooperation and assistance during this project. I would also like to thank the New Jersey School of Conservation for helping conduct the research and supplying the necessary equipment. Additionally, I would like to thank Dr. Kristen Page for her assistance on protocols and evaluating the scat samples collected and tested. Finally, I would like to thank the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Fish and Wildlife, Endangered and Nongame Species Program, for their funding and equipment used in this project. Finally, I would like to thank my entire thesis committee for their support during this process. All methods and protocols used in this study are approved by Montclair State University’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) – protocols 043- 2017 and 044-2017 – and Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) – 2017_IBC_0009. Disclaimer: “Maps throughout this document were created using ArcGIS® software by Esri. ArcGIS® and ArcMap™ are the intellectual property of Esri and are used herein under license. Copyright © Esri. All rights reserved.” (ESRI 2011A; ESRI 2011B). 4 Table of Contents: List of Figures 6 List of Tables 7 List of Illustrations 8 Introduction 9 General Information and Life History 9 The History of the Allegheny Woodrat 11 Factors Regarding the Allegheny Woodrat Declines 12 Management of the Declining Species 14 Methods 17 Site Selection 17 Tree Surveys 18 Scat Sampling 19 Predator and Competitor Surveys 20 GIS Mapping 21 Site Ranking 21 Results 22 Tree Surveys 22 Scat Sampling 23 Predator and Competitor Surveys 24 GIS Mapping 24 Site Ranking 24 Discussion 25 Implications of Factors Across Study Sites 25 Individual Study Site Evaluations 27 Proposed Management Plans for New Jersey 29 Bibliography 31 Figures 34 Tables 44 Appendices 46 Appendix A: Scat Collections 46 Appendix B: Camera Results 53 5 List of Figures: Figure 1: Map of Allegheny Woodrat Sites in New Jersey 34 Figure 2: Map of Study Sites 35 Figure 3: Tree and Rock Characterization of Each Study Site 36 Figure 4: Prevalence of Raccoon Roundworm at Each Study Site 37 Figure 5: Number of Species Observations at Each Study Site 38 Figure 6: Study Site Ranks 39 Figure 7: Map of Picatinny Lower Site Map 40 Figure 8: Map of Picatinny Upper Site Map 41 Figure 9: Map of Green Pond Site Map 42 Figure 10: Map of Morris Site Map 43 6 List of Tables Table1 : Camera Locations 44-45 Table 2: Scat Collection Summary 46-52 Table 3: Species Observations by Camera 53-55 7 List of Illustrations: Illustration 1: Raccoon Roundworm Egg 23 8 Introduction Extinction is a natural process that occurs when populations cannot overcome environmental change (Vermeij, 1986). While extirpation of a species, from a portion of an ecosystem, is not cause for concern continued extirpations could become a serious issue (Norton, 1986). In recent years, there has been a large increase in the rate of extinctions, due to human induced environmental changes, which has exacerbated the rate of both local and global extirpations (Vermeij, 1986). When a species is lost from a system and the system fails to return to normal, it can result in a continuing spiral of extinction, which leads to a large loss of overall biodiversity (Norton, 1986). However, while the rate of extinctions is increasing it is not felt equally across all species (Vermeij, 1986). There are certain characteristics that put populations more at risk than others, especially in the instances of small or rare populations (Vermeij, 1986). These characteristics include, but are not limited to, low population densities with large home ranges, large body sizes, endothermic animals, small geographic ranges, and short breeding seasons (Vermeij, 1986). Rare populations, or populations with the aforementioned characteristics, are more affected by genetic drift, habitat fragmentation, and invasive species introductions (Slobodkin, 1986). When one or more of these factors affect the same populations, over a short period, the results can be catastrophic (Slobodkin, 1986). Additionally, the effects of these factors are further exacerbated by humans and anthropogenically induced climate changes (Slobodkin, 1986). One such example is the Allegheny woodrat (Neotoma magister), a native of North America, which has been experiencing large declines due to a number of reasons. General Information and Life History The Allegheny woodrat is a medium-sized rodent with a long, hairy tail that is found throughout a large portion of the eastern United States (Castleberry et al., 2006). Adults exhibit a bicolored pelage consisting of brown/grey hair dorsally and white hair ventrally (Castleberry et al., 2006). Woodrats build nests composed of dried grasses and shredded wood fibers deep within the rocky habitats that they occupy (Castleberry et al., 2006). Woodrats breed once or twice each year, between mid-March and early-October, depending on location, producing average litters of two young and a maximum of four (Castleberry et al., 2006; Wood, 2010). The young, like other rodents, are born hairless, blind, and grow slowly, reaching maturity in three to four months (Wood, 2010; LoGiudice, 2010). These sub-adults do not breed in their first year, despite possibly reaching sexual maturity during the breeding season (LoGiudice, 2010). Adult Allegheny woodrats have small territories around their nesting sites that they actively defend from other woodrats, but will travel throughout a larger home range while foraging for food or during mating season (Castleberry, 2010). 9 Allegheny woodrats can inhabit a wide variety of forests, but require a diverse understory, partial overstory and the presence of rocky habitats including boulder fields, caves, cliffs, or talus slopes (Castleberry et al., 2006; Castleberry, 2010; Page et al., 2012). The rocky patches, and forested area located immediately around it, are referred to as surface rock communities (Hassinger et al., 2010). The surface rock communities are home to a wide variety of creatures including, but not limited to, woodrats (Neotoma sp.), shrews (Sorex sp.), voles (Microtus sp.), mice (Peromyscus sp.), bats (Myotis sp.), ravens (Corvus corax), weasels (Mustela sp.), skunks (Mephitis mephitis), raccoons (Procyon lotor), and bears (Ursa sp.) (Castleberry et al., 2006). The most
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