A comparison of mammal diversity in prairie and forest habitats

Abstract

In this study we examined the diversity of small mammals found within various types of forest habitats in comparison to the diversity of mammals caught in prairie habitats. Through an analysis of our results we were able to determine which ecosystem was more diverse. We predicted that the prairie habitats would be more diverse than the mixed forests because the prairie ecosystem can support many more kinds of species.The mixed forests habitats consisted of a burned deciduous area, an unburned deciduous area, a burned red pine area, an unburned red pine area, an aspen area, and finally a bog area. We set a gridline of forty-eight trap nights for the different habitats, forty Sherman traps and eight Longworth traps. The gridlines consisted of four lines of traps with ten traps in each row spaced ten meters apart. Two trap spots in each line had an additional Longworth trap. These trap spots were chosen at random. Sites were checked once a day for three consecutive days. Each mammal captured was identified and individually marked, and the data was recorded and pooled into a single data set. The same method applies for the prairie location, which consisted of rush south, rush north, Coburn east, Coburn west, Waubun wet, and Waubun dry.