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The small-mammal community of a dry-tropical forest in central Thailand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Susan Walker  and
Alan Rabinowitz
Susan Walker
Affiliation:
118 Newins Ziegler Hall, University of Florida, School of Forest Resources and Conservation, Department of Wildlife and Range Sciences, Gainesville, FL 32611–0301, USA
Alan Rabinowitz
Affiliation:
Wildlife Conservation International, New York Zoological Society, Bronx Z00, NY 10400, USA
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Abstract

Small mammal live-trapping was carried out in a dry tropical forest mosaic in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, central Thailand. Trapping was done in two forest types in three seasons. Maxomys surijer was the dominant species in both plots. The three most abundant species in each plot accounted for > 90% of all captures. Community structure, density, relative abundance, biomass, age structure of populations, and habitat usage of some small mammal species varied by forest type and season. The dry evergreen/mixed deciduous forest type supported a greater abundance and biomass of small mammals than the mixed deciduous/dry dipterocarp forest type in all seasons, although species richness was the same. The greatest density, biomass, and home-range size for Maxomys surijer occurred in the rainy season in both forest types. Seasonal changes in ratios of adults and subadulls of several species suggested a breeding peak at the end of the dry season or beginning of the rainy season. The mixed deciduous/dry dipterocarp forest showed a drastic drop in numbers, density, and biomass of small mammals six weeks after a fire burned through it.

Keywords

dry tropical forestLeopoldamys sabanusMaxomys surijerMenetes berdmoreismall mammalsThailandTupaia glis
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , February 1992 , pp. 57 - 71
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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