Page 12 - The Black Range Naturalist Vol. 4, No. 3

and other conditions that might affect the populations of the subject species.
Reductions in precipitation were found to be more significant for bird species than for mammal species. “For desert birds, however, a reduction in precipitation drove the community collapse over the past century...the effect was compelling at sites that both warmed and dried, which suggests that birds are particularly vulnerable to increased water requirements for evaporative cooling....Cooling costs were higher in birds than in mammals by a factor of 3.3 across a representative landscape, and climate change increased these costs by 58.5% for birds but only 17.4% for mammals.” (p. 633-635)
Of the 34 small mammal species in the survey, a third are found in or near our area. The survey found that the populations of Dipodomys merriami, Merriam’s Kangaroo Rat; Microtus longicaudus, Long-tailed Vole; Microtus montanus, Montane Vole; Mus musculus, House Mouse; Otospermophilus variegatus, Rock Squirrel; Peromyscus truei, Piñon Deermouse; Peromyscus boylii, Brush Mouse; and Reithrodontomys megalotis, Western Harvest Mouse remained stable. The population of Neotoma albigula, White- throated Woodrat, increased, and the populations of Onychomys torridus, Southern Grasshopper Mouse, and Peromyscus maniculatus, North American Deer Mouse decreased. When applied to our area, these findings should be
considered indicative rather than definitive. (A number of conditions, including varying soil depths, may affect outcomes.)
The article also reports on the findings of the authors’ MSOM’s, taxa-specific, dynamic multispecies occupancy models, determining which species are likely to share burrows.
In the graphic below, gray lines connect species that are more likely to persist (likely to be present from one sample period to another) or colonize the same site. Red lines connect species that are unlikely to colonize the same sites. AMLE = White-tailed Antelope Squirrel; NELE = Desert Woodrat; DIDE = Desert Kangaroo Rat; MICA = California Vole; PELO = Little Pocket Mouse; CHFO = Long-tailed Pocket Mouse; and DIPA = Panamint Kangaroo Rat. The “A” graphic captures the likelihood of persistence, while “B” captures the likelihood of colonization. (The graphic shown below is from the online supplementary material associated with this article.)
In the April 2020 issue of The Black Range Naturalist (“A K-Rat Mound is a Busy Place”) Harley Shaw explored the activity at a Banner-tail Kangaroo Rat mound near Hillsboro (pp. 12-13). He documented the “comings and goings’”at the mound in terms of a number of species (including predators) and the timing of visits. His findings are both supportive of, and additive to, the findings described in Riddell et al.
Coati Watch Photographs by Tom Lander
In mid-February of this year, Tom Lander (Kingston), saw two White-nosed Coatis, Nasua narica, near MP 43 on NM-152.
He was able to photograph one. (See photos next page.) We continue to monitor sightings of this species in the Black Range. The Black Range is at the edge of this species’ range (shown on the following page) and our efforts, hopefully, will help describe the possible range expansion of this species as our temperature rises. (Or, to the contrary, how coatis distribute themselves at the margin of a stable range.) If you know of a sighting we have not documented, please let us know. Some recent sightings are listed below.
The White-nosed Coati is in the Procyonidae family, which also includes raccoons and ringtails in our area. Other common names include Coatimundi and Tejón, which is also the term for badger.
Other Sightings
In addition to the Coati sightings reported in previous issues (April 2019 and December 2020), the following are worth mentioning:
• February 2018 - Southwest Canyon - SW of Kingston, by Devon Fletcher;
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