Spatiotemporal, Microhabitat, and Climatic Variance in Disjunct Populations
Because fragmented semi-arid ecosystems are inherently dynamic, evaluation of natural variability over appropriate scales of time and space is crucial for resource management and conservation. Historical ecological assessments are often useful as “benchmarks” by land managers to evaluate the natural range of variability linked to ecosystem health. For comparative purposes, and in anticipation of future degradation of relic pinyon-juniper woodlands throughout the North American Southwest, we present “archival” data (1996–1998) focused on the unique endemic Oscura Mountains chipmunk (Neotamias q. oscuraensis) and the ubiquitous brushmouse (Peromyscus boylii) in the Oscura Mountains, New Mexico, USA. Our objectives were to evaluate variance in the spatiotemporal regimes of each species in response to 1) seasonal area climate, 2) microhabitat use, 3) reproductive output, and 4) population density based on capture-recapture models.
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