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    Population Ecology of Uinta Ground Squirrels

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    Slade_1974.pdf (1.876Mb)
    Issue Date
    1974-08-01
    Author
    Slade, Norman A.
    Balph, David F.
    Publisher
    Ecological Society of America
    Type
    Article
    Article Version
    Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
    Rights
    Copyright by the Ecological Society of America
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    Abstract
    The behavior and ecology of Uinta ground squirrels (Spermophilus armatus) at the Utah State University Forestry Field Station northeast of Logan, Utah, were studies 1964—71 to determine the role of behavior in population regulation. In 1968 the population was reduced experimentally to about one—half the previous density. The study area consisted of a lawn area where resident squirrels more than replaced themselves, and an area of mixed shrubs and grasses where they did not. Surplus squirrels from the lawn raised the population density off the lawn. Also, habitat suitabilities varied with population densities. Hence, densities in the two areas were not proportional to habitat preferences. Before the reduction the population density fluctuated widely but the mean change for 5 yr was approximately zero. A potentially high rate of increase was curtailed by disappearance of juveniles and yearlings; juveniles tended to disperse from the natal burrow. The principal changes following the reduction were increases in percentage of yearling squirrels breeding and of juveniles remaining on the study area. Litter size and proportion of adult females breeding did not change significantly, but losses during hibernation, due in part to badger predation, decreased. Dispersal of squirrels from the study area played a key role in population regulation. Dispersers probably suffered higher mortality than sedentary squirrels, but dispersal was not necessarily maladaptive for the individual. Dispersers may have been unable to produce young at high densities; thus emigration offered the only opportunity for reproduction.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/1808/18033
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.2307/1940350
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    • Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Scholarly Works [1497]
    Citation
    Slade, Norman A.; Balph, David F. (1974). "Population Ecology of Uinta Ground Squirrels." Ecology, 55(5):989-1003. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1940350.

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    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

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