Small Mammal Diversity at Burned and Unburned Sites within Itasca State Park and nearby Prairie

Abstract

Many factors may influence small mammal diversity including other animals present, disruptions, and habitat. In our data collection, we were looking at the factors of habitat and disruption. Fire was the main disruption examined, and prairie habitat was compared to forest habitat. Each trap site had 45 Sherman, 5 Russian, and 5 Longworth traps. The traps were checked for three consecutive days at all sites except Frenchman’s Bluff where by law it was required that we check them twice daily. Diversity indexes were calculated using the Shannon-Weaver Diversity Index equation [H=-ΣPi*ln(Pi)], where Pi is the proportion of species i and H is the diversity index.