10 Years of Monitoring to Begin in Summer 2024
As tasked by the Preble’s mouse Recovery Plan (USFWS 2018), 10 years of Preble’s mouse population status and trends monitoring will begin in Summer 2024. Funded by a Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) grant, CPW will contract the population monitoring to an entity that currently holds a USFWS Recover Permit that allows for live and camera trapping. Researchers will then use the Preble’s mouse Population Monitoring Protocol (Schorr and Lukacs 2020) to assess whether Preble’s mouse populations (including the recovery population of the NF Poudre) are sustainable (e.g., populations are stable, capable of recruiting adults, and/or increasing) throughout their range.
The Monitoring Protocol will assist us in determining population size, population change, survival, recruitment, and occupancy. Ultimately, this monitoring effort will allow assessment of recovery and will inform population structure and dynamics in relation to habitat.
The monitoring program objectives are to:
1) Estimate survival, recruitment, abundance, and assess trends in population growth within 10 years;
2) Contrast habitat conditions at Preble’s mouse-detected and Preble’s mouse-non-detected monitoring locations to identify vital key habitat components within 5 years.
The sampling methodology (detailed in Appendix D of the Conservation Plan) will follow USFWS guidelines for Preble’s mouse trapping (USFWS 2004) and will consist of 15 randomly selected locations based on the nomination population. Each location will be trapped over the course of 5-6 nights annually between mid-June and August. Trapped mice will be marked with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags to track repeat-trap individuals, weighed, sexed, and reproductive status will be documented.
