Mammal Surveys in Great Basin National Park:Assessment of Historical Faunal Change
Eric Rickart & Shannen Robson
Utah Museum of Natural HistoryUniversity of Utah
METHODS
Historical data sources
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ)1929-1939 field surveys
Other records – 1940-1990 Publications MaNIS museum network
UMNH-FMNH survey – 2000
NPS I&M (UMNH) – 2002-2003
Recent data sources
GRBA sight reports – 1994-2004
GENERAL SURVEY RESULTS
Historical records (pre-1990)
Park: 390 records 31 species Park region: 893 records 48 species
Recent surveys (2000-2003)
4379 trap nights 642 records 26 species
GRBA sight reports
366 reports 22 species
(non-volant mammals)
Species Totals Park Greater region
Non-volants 42 54 Total (incl. bats) 49 67
Shrews (small mammal exemplars)
Merriam’s shrew (Sorex merriami)Sagebrush
Inyo shrew (Sorex tenellus)High elevations (rocky substrate)
Vagrant shrew (Sorex vagrans)
Abundant generalist
Water shrew (Sorex palustris)
Uncommon riparian specialist
Uncommon habitat specialists
1930 2003
Historical change
Piñon-Juniper expansion
Invasive cheatgrass
Resurvey protocol
Relocate historical collecting sites that were densely sampled
Determine historical sampling effort
Assess habitat changes (notes and photographs)
Do comparable modern sampling
Interpret local faunal changes
Local site assessments:
Broader scale (landscape) assessments:
Shifts in elevation ranges of species
Specimen counts as a proxy for effort
Survey localities
Historical &RecentSurvey
comparison
= historical record = recent record
Resurvey comparisons -- Four elevation “bins”
Low: 5300-6700 ft 67 10 65 12 (ca. 1600-2050 m)
Mid: 7000-8000 ft 125 14 56 7 (ca. 2150-2450 m)
High: 8100-10500 ft 79 7 80 8 (ca. 2450-3200 m)
Alpine: 10700-11200 ft 30 7 28 5 (ca. 3250-3400 m)
Historical ModernElevation (1929-1939) (2000-2003) records species records species
Low elevation
Low elevation
Mid elevation
Mid elevation
High elevation
High elevation
Alpine
Alpine
Least chipmunk (Tamias minimus) Great Basin pocket mouse (Perognathus parvus)
Species responding to loss/shift of sagebrush habitat
Uinta chipmunk (Tamias umbrinus)
Piñon mouse (Peromyscus truei)
Species increasing with spread of piñon-juniper
Species responding to cheatgrass invasion
Ord’s kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ordii)
Declining
Expanding
Harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys megalotis)
Long-tailed vole (Microtus longicaudus)
Desert woodrat (Neotoma lepida)Bushy-tailed woodrat
(Neotoma cinerea)
Declining woodrats
Yellow-bellied marmot(Marmota flaviventris)
Porcupine(Erethizon dorsatum)
Uncommon species
Cougar(Puma concolor)
Beaver(Castor canadensis)
Keystone species
Acknowledgements
Field assistantsDanny BaleteAlex BaughLarry HeaneyRob McIntyreJoe Walsh
GRBA - NPSGretchen BakerBryan HamiltonKris HeisterJoe SirotnakTod Williams
FundingUtah Museum of Natural HistoryField MuseumNPS Mojave network I&M program