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Occupancy Of Small Mammals In Missouri’S Fragmented Prairies, Morgan Elizabeth Rodery

MSU Graduate Theses

Prairies once extended across much of Missouri, but now are dwindling and often surrounded by agriculture or other developed land. This has resulted in a mosaic-like landscape made up of small patches that are often isolated and distant from other patches. The theory of Island Biogeography posits that species richness of habitat patches exists as a dynamic equilibrium between colonization and extinction rates and that larger islands should contain more species than smaller islands. The purpose of this study is to examine how occupancy of a small mammal prairie specialist, the prairie vole, Microtus ochrogaster, and other small mammal …