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Abstract:
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Assessingsmallmammaldiversityisacommonprocedure,whichusuallyemployswidespreadstandardtechniques,
for gatheringinformationforawiderangeofstudies.Traditionalmethods,however,maybebiasedagainstcapturing
arborealmarsupials,suchas Dromiciopsgliroides, anendemicmarsupialcurrentlyconsideredararespeciesinthe
Patagoniantemperaterainforestduetothelowabundancesreportedpreviously.Itestedanewcapturingmethodology
to assessthesmallmammaldiversityofanold-growthforestinPatagonia,basedonarandomizedandbalanced
design, whichincorporatedacombinationofdifferenttraptypes,baittypes,andplacementheights.Theproposed
methodologyincludedfourtraptypes(twoforlive-capturing:wire-meshandShermantraps,andtwosign-recording
traps fortracksandhair),twotypesofbait(bananaandrolledoats),andtwotrapplacements(groundleveland
1.5–2.5mabovetheground).Traptype,baittype,andheightofplacementallhadsignificantlydifferenteffectson
capturinganddetectingrodentsormarsupials;environmentalvariablesatthetraplocationalsoaffectedtheabilityto
detect rodentsandmarsupials.Traditionalmethodsusedforsamplingsmallmammalsperformedwellforrodentsbut
are noteffectiveforcapturingmarsupialsandviceversa,showingspecies-specificsamplingprotocols.Thereisno
singlecombinationoftrap-bait-heightcapabletoassesstheentiresmallmammalcommunity,butthecombinationof
the mosteffectiveprotocolforrodentsandthemosteffectiveprotocolformarsupialsguaranteebetterresults.
r 2009 DeutscheGesellschaftfu¨r Sa¨ugetierkunde. |