2015 Volume 58 Issue 1 Pages 37-43
The proximate contact opportunistically occurs between livestock and wildlife in the agricultural ecosystems demonstrated at Hilly and Mountainous Areas in Japan. However, studies has been concentrated on large and middle sized mammals such as bear, sika deer, wild boar, and Japanese macaque, whereas less for small mammals. I hypothesized that the management on understory in agricultural windbreaks was associated with the spatial distribution and utilization of farmland of small mammals. To test this, the effects of the management on understory in windbreaks on changes in the number of a small mammal living within windbreaks and on utilization of artificial equipments in a farmland by a forest small mammal under the condition mimicking agricultural ecosystems containing small scale livestock farmers demonstrated at semi-mountainous areas in Japan. Five trapping plots and nine trapping transects were settled in windbreaks and peripheral areas on the cornfield neighboring to the windbreaks, respectively, and effects of management on understory in windbreaks on changes in the number of mice captured at these trapping points were analyzed by generalized linear mixed effects model. Only adult large Japanese wood mouse Apodemus speciosus was captured and any other small mammals were not captured in the present study. Sharply decreasing in the number of individual mouse was observed only in the two trapping plots having low population density after understory was removed. In addition, removing understory resulted in decreasing in the number of individual mouse in all trapping transects. These results suggest that the management on understory, which was conducted by farmers as the part of usual maintenances on farmland can effectively decrease the number of mouse living in windbreaks, and, as a result, this can also decrease the frequency of invasion to the neighboring cornfield from windbreaks.
Nihon Chikusan Gakkai Kyushu Shibuho
Nihon Chikusan Gakkai Nishinihon Shibuho
