The Expedition Field Techniques: Small Mammals (excluding bats) manual offers indispensable guidance for incorporating small mammal biodiversity surveys into your fieldwork or research expedition.
Designed for students honing their practical skills, researchers refining their methodologies, and expedition leaders incorporating scientific studies, this manual equips you with the insights and practical methods necessary to make a meaningful contribution to small mammal conservation and monitoring.
Small mammals, though often diminutive in size, play disproportionately significant roles as indicators of ecosystem health and function within diverse habitats worldwide. Understanding these creatures, from their population dynamics to their ecological interactions, demands precise and ethical field techniques.
Authored by respected conservation biologists Dr John Dutton and the late Dr Adrian Barnett, this comprehensive resource details proven methodologies for data collection, empowering you to effectively design, execute, and participate in surveys focused on small mammal populations and their critical role in the environment.
Applications for the practical techniques detailed within this manual include:
- Implementing effective trapping strategies: learn to select, set, and bait various trap types, and design trapping transects or grids for robust population assessments.
- Safe handling and data collection: master ethical animal handling, precise measurement, weighing, and collection of biological samples from live small mammals.
- Analysing ecological data: understand how to gather additional information on diet, reproduction, and parasites, linking small mammal presence to broader ecological patterns.
- Ensuring field safety and ethics: gain insights into hygiene, safety protocols, and effective collaboration with local communities for responsible fieldwork.
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