Abstract

SANTOS-FILHO, Manoel; DA SILVA, Dionei J.  and  SANAIOTTI, Tânia M.. Efficiency of four trap types in sampling small mammals in forest fragments, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Mastozool. neotrop. [online]. 2006, vol.13, n.2, pp.217-225. ISSN 0327-9383.

We sampled the small mammal community inhabiting semi-deciduous forest fragments in Mato Grosso, Brazil, using 4 different types of traps, Tomahawk, Sherman, snap, and pitfall, in order to evaluate the efficiency of different trap types in sampling efforts. During our study, we captured a total of 984 individuals of 27 species over 33 800 trap/nights. Sherman traps captured a significantly greater abundance of individuals and higher species richness than the other 3 types of traps. The Tomahawk and snap traps exhibited similar capture rates, in both the number of individuals and species captured. Pitfall traps captured the fewest numbers of individuals and species and were the only trap type to have different, although not significant, capture rates between seasons. Pitfall traps captured four times more individuals during the wet season than during the dry season. Despite their relative inefficiency and the large effort it takes to install pitfall traps, we found that these types of traps can be useful in augmenting trapping efforts, as they often capture species that do not, or rarely, fall into other types of traps.

Keywords : Marsupials; Mato Grosso; Rodents; Semi-deciduous forest fragments; Traps.

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