A cost-efficient novel live-trap for demographic studies of small mammals

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1 Scientific Service, Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park, Abruzzo, Italy
2 ISE-CNR - Institute of Ecosystem Study, Rome, Italy
3 Department of Applied and Environmental Biology, Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
4 Centre of Environmental Studies DEMETRA s.r.l., Rome, Italy
DOI
10.7287/peerj.preprints.1179v1
Published
Accepted
Subject Areas
Ecology, Zoology
Keywords
Rodentia, Live-trap, Ecology, Capture-Mark-Recapture, Trapping, Ecology, Capture-Mark-Recapture, Live-trap, Trapping, Rodentia
Copyright
© 2015 Locasciulli et al.
Licence
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ PrePrints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
Cite this article
Locasciulli O, Milana G, Rocchi F, Luiselli L, Amori G. 2015. A cost-efficient novel live-trap for demographic studies of small mammals. PeerJ PrePrints 3:e1179v1

Abstract

A new live-trap (named LOT trap) for small mammals is described herein. This trap is easily built and is considerably cheaper than commercial traps. The trap body is made of a PVC 8x8 cm pipe, with a tin door and a transparent plexiglas back door. The efficacy of this trap was tested in an experimental field study, and the results are presented and discussed. Capture rates were significantly different between types of trap, with 81.6% of captured rodents for LOT and 18.4% of rodents for multiple-capture traps.

Author Comment

This is the formal description of a new live-trap for capturing small mammals alive. This trap type is cheap and highly performing. Thus, it can be very useful for scientists working on small mammal ecology in the developing countries.