Mammal inventory of Alaska's National Parks and Preserves, Southwest Alaska Network: Kenai Fjords National Park, Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, and Katmai National Park and Preserve
Dates
Year
2005
Citation
Cook, Joseph A., and MacDonald, Stephen O., 2005, Mammal inventory of Alaska's National Parks and Preserves, Southwest Alaska Network: Kenai Fjords National Park, Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, and Katmai National Park and Preserve: National Park Service, Alaska Region Inventory and Monitoring Program, p. 57-57.
Summary
This report summarizes the inventory of mammals of three park units in the Southwest Alaska Network (SWAN) of the National Park Service, Alaska Region, in 2003 and 2004. This study was part of a cooperative effort of the Beringian Coevolution Project at the Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico and the SWAN Inventory and Monitoring Program of the National Park Service of Alaska. We begin the process of documenting the approximately 38 species of mammals that occur in SWAN, with a primary focus on small mammals (i.e., shrews, voles, lemmings, weasels, porcupine, squirrels, and hares). This survey resulted in over 2000 primary specimens comprising 18 small mammal species. Small mammal captures varied considerably between [...]
Summary
This report summarizes the inventory of mammals of three park units in the Southwest Alaska Network (SWAN) of the National Park Service, Alaska Region, in 2003 and 2004. This study was part of a cooperative effort of the Beringian Coevolution Project at the Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico and the SWAN Inventory and Monitoring Program of the National Park Service of Alaska. We begin the process of documenting the approximately 38 species of mammals that occur in SWAN, with a primary focus on small mammals (i.e., shrews, voles, lemmings, weasels, porcupine, squirrels, and hares). This survey resulted in over 2000 primary specimens comprising 18 small mammal species. Small mammal captures varied considerably between years and across parks. From all localities sampled in SWAN, two shrews (cinereus shrew, montane shrew) and two voles (northern red-backed vole, tundra vole) were the most frequently captured species (935, 389, 484, and 84 specimens, respectively), comprising over 92% of all specimens collected in two field seasons of effort. This study confirms the importance of ongoing efforts to fully document the region’s small mammal fauna. Such persistence has paid a large dividend in SWAN with the documentation of four new species in Kenai Fjords National Park, seven in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, and three in Katmai National Park and Preserve. This inventory also extended the known distributions of several other species. These findings, when combined with specimen information gathered from a review of holdings at UAM and other major collections, bring the total number of documented small mammal species to 4 of 14 probable species, or 29% coverage in KEFJ, 18 of 22 species, or 82% coverage in LACL, and 13 of 21 probable species, or 62% coverage in KATM. The specific products of this inventory include a large collection of well-prepared, well-documented, and diverse preparations of mammal specimens and associated materials (tissues, parasites, fecal samples, digestive tracts) for taxonomic, zoogeographic, ecological, genetic, parasitological, epidemiological, and other research and management purposes.