Abstract
Mammal populations are important to study, as mammals play crucial roles in ecosystem functioning. I sampled mammal composition in aspen forest, hydric willow forest, hardwood forest, meadow, and pine forest using live traps, experimental “tube” traps, cage traps, and trail cameras at the Hillsdale College G. H. Gordon Biological Station in Luther, Michigan. From these samples, I observed effects of habitat type and trap type on species diversity, richness, and assemblage. The hydric willow forest had a higher richness than the hardwood forest, meadow, pine forest, and aspen forests, but statistical overlap makes definite conclusions unclear. Habitat type had no significant effect on species assemblage or species diversity. The smaller traps captured smaller mammals, while the larger traps captured larger mammals. Camera, tube, and live traps had higher richness than large and medium traps. Tube and live traps had higher diversity than the camera and large and medium traps. Tube traps were also found to have a significantly lower morbidity then live traps. Since habitat type has no significant effect on species assemblage or species diversity, I conclude that mammals are not reliant on specific foliage for nourishment. Therefore, they tend to wander rather than stay in a single habitat. Since trap type has a significant effect on mammal captures, I emphasize the importance of having the appropriate equipment for a mammal survey. Since tube traps had a significant effect on morbidity, I encourage future study utilizing the tube traps as a way to avoid morbidity error.