Title: TOS Protocol and Procedure: Small Mammal Sampling Date: 02/17/2017 NEON Doc. #: NEON.DOC.000481 Author: K. Thibault Revision: J TOS PROTOCOL AND PROCEDURE: SMALL MAMMAL SAMPLING PREPARED BY ORGANIZATION DATE Katherine M. Thibault FSU 01/19/2017 Kim Tsao FSU 10/25/2016 Yuri Springer FSU 01/15/2015 Liz Knapp HR 12/31/2013 APPROVALS ORGANIZATION APPROVAL DATE Andrea Thorpe SCI 02/06/2017 Mike Stewart SYS 02/15/2017 RELEASED BY ORGANIZATION RELEASE DATE Judy Salazar CM 02/17/2017 See configuration management system for approval history. The National Ecological Observatory Network is a project solely funded by the National Science Foundation and managed under cooperative agreement by Battelle. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Template_NEON.DOC.050006 Rev F Title: TOS Protocol and Procedure: Small Mammal Sampling Date: 02/17/2017 NEON Doc. #: NEON.DOC.000481 Author: K. Thibault Revision: J Change Record REVISION DATE ECO # DESCRIPTION OF CHANGE A_DRAFT 07/11/2012 ECO-00469 Draft release B_DRAFT 01/24/2014 ECO-01181 Draft release. Will finalize in next rev. Production release, template change, and other changes as C 03/31/2014 ECO-01671 detailed in Appendix C. Merged with rodent-borne pathogen sampling protocol. Updated Appendix D with site-specific information. D 04/10/2014 ECO-01792 Updated References. Added Appendix D, Bleed Grid Designation. E 12/05/2014 ECO-02530 Migration to new protocol template Decreased sampling bout duration for diversity grids from three nights to one. Changed cold temperature thresholds for trapping. Removed retro-orbital bleeding technique. Removed Heteromyidae from bleeding list and added F 03/23/2015 ECO-02644 Muridae. Added prioritization of processing steps. Added equipment and protocol modifications for D04, D19, D20. Added sp codes. Removed datasheet column references due to changes in datasheet; updated datasheet quick references. Added IACUC requested language regarding cervical dislocation training and GRSM-specific IACUC instructions. G 05/04/2015 ECO-02890 Added back in anesthesia instructions, and added euthanasia instructions per the IACUC-approved protocol. Baseline edits. Effective starting 2016 field season: added tick monitoring to data collection, clarified priority of data collection in decision tree. Revised instructions for pathogen grid selection, added instructions for blood H 01/29/2016 ECO-03660 sample processing and intentional voucher collection. Added alternative anesthesia delivery method. Clarified trap cleaning rules and added language to discourage dumping of seed on the ground when pulling a grid. Clean up of SOPs E and H. Clarified priorities re: trapping nights per grid when time is limited, and pathogen grid selection guidelines. Alter processing prioritization scheme, including limiting blood samples to 20 per plot. Added additional guidelines for J 02/17/2017 ECO-04445 selecting blood samples for testing (Appendix D, E), and revised blood sample limit based on current budget. Updated dominant genera and species lists in Appendix E. Clairified ear tag replaced field; added date to the untagged voucherID format; ear sample collection using Template_NEON.DOC.050006 Rev F Title: TOS Protocol and Procedure: Small Mammal Sampling Date: 02/17/2017 NEON Doc. #: NEON.DOC.000481 Author: K. Thibault Revision: J REVISION DATE ECO # DESCRIPTION OF CHANGE scissors; use of ‘X’ in trap coordinate to denote uncertainty; decreased seed sterilization temperature; added ‘Unknown’ option to reproductive fields; updated quick reference to reflect updates to datasheet; added language to accommodate mobile data entry application; updated shipping inventory instructions; changed data entry instruction to NOT enter any data if no traps were set on a given plot. Added guidance for entering identification references info at the level of the individual – no longer being collected at the level of the plot. Template_NEON.DOC.050006 Rev F Title: TOS Protocol and Procedure: Small Mammal Sampling Date: 02/17/2017 NEON Doc. #: NEON.DOC.000481 Author: K. Thibault Revision: J TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 OVERVIEW .................................................................................................................................1 1.1 Background .................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Scope ........................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2.1 NEON Science Requirements and Data Products ................................................................... 1 1.3 Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................... 2 2 RELATED DOCUMENTS AND ACRONYMS .....................................................................................2 2.1 Applicable Documents ................................................................................................................. 2 2.2 Reference Documents ................................................................................................................. 2 2.3 Acronyms ..................................................................................................................................... 3 2.4 Definitions ................................................................................................................................... 3 3 METHOD ....................................................................................................................................5 3.1 Sampling Goals ............................................................................................................................ 5 3.2 Trapping design ........................................................................................................................... 5 3.3 Grid types .................................................................................................................................... 6 3.4 Personnel ..................................................................................................................................... 7 3.5 Timing of trapping ....................................................................................................................... 7 3.6 Bait ............................................................................................................................................... 8 3.7 Processing .................................................................................................................................... 9 3.7.1 Marking ................................................................................................................................... 9 3.7.2 Animal Care ............................................................................................................................. 9 4 SAMPLING SCHEDULE ............................................................................................................... 10 4.1 Sampling Frequency and Timing................................................................................................ 10 4.2 Criteria for Determining Onset and Cessation of Sampling ...................................................... 11 4.3 Timing for Laboratory Processing and Analysis ......................................................................... 15 4.4 Sampling Timing Contingencies ................................................................................................. 16 4.5 Criteria for Permanent Reallocation of Sampling Within a Site ................................................ 17 5 SAFETY ..................................................................................................................................... 18 5.1 Working with Small Mammals ................................................................................................... 18 6 PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT ................................................................................................... 19 i Title: TOS Protocol and Procedure: Small Mammal Sampling Date: 02/17/2017 NEON Doc. #: NEON.DOC.000481 Author: K. Thibault Revision: J 6.1 Clothing and PPE ........................................................................................................................ 19 6.2 Equipment ................................................................................................................................. 21 6.3 Training Requirements .............................................................................................................. 39 6.4 Specialized Skills ........................................................................................................................ 40 6.4.1 Trapping ................................................................................................................................ 40 6.4.2 Handling ................................................................................................................................ 40 6.5 Estimated Time .......................................................................................................................... 40 7 STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES ....................................................................................... 41 SOP A