Demography of Peromyscus leucopus populations on habitat patches: the role of dispersal

Abstract

We studied the demography of populations of the white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus, inhabiting forest patches. Patch populations were characterized by high density, low rates of emigration and immigration, large temporal variance in density, low spatial variation in density, and high home-range overlap. There was no relationship between density and the distance from other forest patches. However, patches less than 2 ha in size had the highest mouse densities. Radiotelemetry, fluorescent-powder tracking, and trapping indicated that few mice disperse through grassland or agricultural fields surrounding patches. The recovery of a population from extinction was slower in more distant patches. We suggest that dispersal plays a key role in the demography of P. leucopus metapopulations that inhabit a landscape composed of a mosaic of large forest tracts, isolated forest patches, and agricultural fields.