We ended up finding 13 species, they are as follows: Coyote, moose, deer, bobcat, porcupine, mole, meadow vole, peromyscus, turkey, gray squirrel, red squirrel, gray fox and house cat. The transition transect was the most widely used out of the three (farm, transition and woods). The turkey was the most abundant species overall, followed by coyote and deer. There were several species that used more than one habitat area, including: coyote, moose, porcupine, and deer which was found in all three habitats.
What was most interesting to us was that the majority of the species were found to be traveling southwest towards the farm. Deer spent an equal amount of time traveling towards the farm and directly away from the farm.
This information demonstrates that all three habitats are important to a number of species. In fact many species depend on more than one of these habitats. The fact that animals were often found moving towards the farm, illustrates that mammals are moving to the farm most likely as a food source. Clearly it is important to preserve farmland, woodland and the transition area in between for the health and happiness for the wildlife that calls these habitats home.
Now, we are tired and wish to go outside. It is hard to ask fifteen environmental educators to sit inside and type all day! Whew!
1 comment:
You have learned a lot of the tracking and behavior of animals in the last two weeks. Your group has worked well together in rain, wind and sun. You should be proud of what you have accomplished.
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