Abstract
We describe a newly developed and low-cost feeder designed for use with arboreal small mammals under any climatic condition. As part of a project on bottom-up regulation of small mammal populations in central Brazil, we present the results of 16 months of food supplementation. During the study, more than 118 kg of milled cat food were consumed, out of a total of 207 kg offered. Moreover, we registered a low rate of loss (14.05%) of feeders from falling to the ground or termite/ant colonization. The round-pot feeder described here represents a low-cost method for providing continuous food-supplementation, contraceptives, or poisoned baits to arboreal small mammals.
Acknowledgments
We thank the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior for the postdoctorate scholarship (A.F.M., PNPD/CAPES 3119/10) and the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico for the research funding (E.M.V., PELD/CNPq 483117/2009-9 and 403845/2012-2) granted during this study. We acknowledge and thank the Botanical Garden of Brasilia and the Ecological and Agricultural Field Station of the University of Brasilia for the permission granted for our fieldwork. Thanks are due to all undergraduate and graduate students who provided valuable help in our fieldwork. We are also grateful to N. Camargo for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.
References
Abramsky, Z. 1978. Small mammal community ecology. Changes in species diversity in response to manipulated productivity. Oecologia 34: 113–123.10.1007/BF00345160Search in Google Scholar PubMed
August, P. 1983. The role of habitat complexity and heterogeneity in structuring tropical mammal communities. Ecology 64: 1495–1507.10.2307/1937504Search in Google Scholar
Bocchiglieri, A., A.F. Mendonça and J.B. Campos. 2010. Diet composition of Gracilinanus agilis (Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae) in dry woodland areas of Cerrado in central Brazil. Mammalia 74: 225–227.10.1515/mamm.2010.019Search in Google Scholar
Boutin, S. 1990. Food supplementation experiments with terrestrial vertebrates: patterns, problems, and the future. Can. J. Zool. 68: 203–220.10.1139/z90-031Search in Google Scholar
Brown, J.H. and J.C. Munger. 1985. Experimental manipulation of a desert rodent community: food addition and species removal. Ecology 66: 1545–1563.10.2307/1938017Search in Google Scholar
Camargo, N.F., J.F. Ribeiro, A.J.A. Camargo and E.M. Vieira. 2013. Diet of the gracile mouse opossum Gracilinanus agilis (Didelphimorphia: Didelphidae) in a neotropical savanna: intraspecific variation and resource selection. Acta Theriol. 59: 183–191.10.1007/s13364-013-0152-ySearch in Google Scholar
Chambers, L.K., M.A. Lawson and L.A. Hinds. 1999. Biological control of rodents: the case for fertility control using immunocontraception. In: (G.R. Singleton, L.A. Hinds, H. Leirs and Z. Zhang, eds.) Ecologically-based management of rodent pests. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Camberra, ACT, Australia. pp. 215–242.Search in Google Scholar
Doonan, T. and N. Slade. 1995. Effects of supplemental food on population dynamics of cotton rats, Sigmodon hispidus. Ecology 76: 814–826.10.2307/1939347Search in Google Scholar
Koekemoer, A.C. and R.J. Van Aarde. 2000. The influence of food supplementation on a coastal dune rodent community. Afr. J. Ecol. 38: 343–351.10.1046/j.1365-2028.2000.00259.xSearch in Google Scholar
Lack, D. 1954. The natural regulation of animal numbers. p. The Natural Regulation of Animal Numbers. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.Search in Google Scholar
Mendonça, A.F., T. Armond, A.C.L. Camargo, N.F. Camargo, J.F. Ribeiro, P.L. Zangrandi and E.M. Vieira. 2015. Effects of an extensive fire on arboreal small mammal populations in a neotropical savanna woodland. J. Mammal. 96: 368–379.10.1093/jmammal/gyv038Search in Google Scholar
Orland, M.C. and D.A. Kelt. 2007. Responses of a heteromyid rodent community to large- and small-scale resource pulses: diversity, abundance, and home-range dynamics. J. Mammal. 88: 1280–1287.10.1644/06-MAMM-A-408.1Search in Google Scholar
Orueta, J.F. and Y.A. Ramos. 2001. Methods to control and eradicate terrestrial vertebrate species. Nat. Environ. 118: 1–65.Search in Google Scholar
Pitt, W.C., L.C. Driscoll and R.T. Sugihara. 2011. Efficacy of rodenticide baits for the control of three invasive rodent species in Hawaii. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 60: 533–542.10.1007/s00244-010-9554-xSearch in Google Scholar PubMed
Prevedello, J.A., C.R. Dickman, M.V. Vieira and E.M. Vieira. 2013. Population responses of small mammals to food supply and predators: a global meta-analysis. J. Anim. Ecol. 82: 927–936.10.1111/1365-2656.12072Search in Google Scholar PubMed
Sikes, R.S., W.L. Gannon and Animal Care and Use Commitee of the American Society of Mammalogists. 2011. Guidelines of the American Society of Mammalogists for the use of wild mammals in research. J. Mammal. 92: 235–253.10.1644/10-MAMM-F-355.1Search in Google Scholar
Witmer, G., P. Burke, W. Pitt and M. Avery. 2007. Management of invasive vertebrates in the United States: an overview. Manag. Vertebr. Invasive Species Proc. an Int. Symp. 56: 127–137.Search in Google Scholar
Supplemental Material:
The online version of this article (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/mammalia-2016-0171) offers supplementary material.
©2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
