Landscape-scale habitat associations of small mammals on the western coast of Hudson Bay

Abstract

Availability of suitable habitat affects the distribution and abundance of Arctic fauna, influencing how species respond to climate change and disturbance from resource extraction in the region. We surveyed Arctic ground squirrels (Urocitellus parryii (Richardson, 1825)) using distance sampling transects and concurrently counted microtine rodent burrows. Abundance of Arctic ground squirrels and microtine burrows was positively correlated with terrain ruggedness. Microtine burrows were more abundant inland and in areas with freshwater, whereas Arctic ground squirrels were more often found at low elevation without freshwater. Arctic ground squirrel abundance was positively related to the normalized difference water index, a proxy for vegetation water content, whereas microtine burrows were weakly correlated with the normalized difference vegetation index. Our study highlights the habitat associations of ecologically significant small mammals in an underrepresented Arctic study area.