Cause of mortality in wild mice

Peromyscus mice are the most common mammal in the region. They are broadly important through the foods they eat (i.e. seed predation and dispersal), the diseases they carry (including Lyme and Hanta virus), and the predators they feed as prey. However, the impact of food, disease, and predation on the mice populations themselves has not been examined. We will use an Automated Radio Telemetry System (ARTS) to monitor a population of radio-collared mice. The ARTS will alert us to an animal's death through an SMS message to our cell phone so we can immediately examine the crime scene to determine the cause of death.

Collaborations: Chris Collins SUNY Albany. Dr. Martin Wikelski Princeton University.