Small mammal and herpetofauna abundance and diversity along a gradient of Sudden Oak Death infection.

Kyle Apigian, Letty Brown, Jenny Loda, Sara Toas, Barbara Allen-Diaz; University of California Berkeley, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, Division of Ecosystem Sciences, 201 Wellman Hall #3112, Berkeley, CA 94720; (510) 643-1367; kapigian@nature.berkeley.edu

We studied the effects of sudden oak death (SOD) on coast live oak woodlands in the San Francisco Bay Area. Small mammal and herpetofauna were sampled in the spring and fall of 2002 and 2003, along a gradient of SOD infection. Coverboards along a grid were sampled in the spring to investigate herpetofauna numbers and diversity while Sherman live traps were used to determine small mammal populations. Descriptive analyses indicate that California slender salamander (Batrachoseps attenuatus) was the most common herpetofauna present on all SOD sites, but was less common in uninfected sites. Deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) and woodrats (Neotoma fuscipes) were most common on SOD infected sites, while Pinon mouse (Peromyscus truei) and brush mouse (Peromyscus boylii) were more common on uninfected sites. This study will be useful in forecasting the effects of SOD on wildlife populations in coast live oak woodlands.

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