The use of alternative foods to reduce lodgepole pine seed predation by small mammals.
Abstract
[See FA 43, 540] At 3 interior sites in British Columbia, seed predation was directly related to the densities of small mammals, mainly deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) with some voles (Microtus spp. and Clethrionomys gapperi). Within 3 wk of sowing of lodgepole pine at 45 000 seeds/ha, rodents at a density of 5 or more/ha destroyed more than 85% of pine seed. At a rodent density of less than 3/ha, 60-70% of seed remained uneaten after 3 wk. Sunflower seeds applied with the lodgepole pine at 90 000 seeds/ha successfully reduced lodgepole pine consumption, so that 50-82% remained uneaten after 3 wk and 42-72% after 6 wk.