Movement distances of five rodents and two marsupial species in forest fragments of the coastal Atlantic Rainforest, Brazil

PÜTTKER, T.; MEYER-LUCHT, Y.; SOMMER, S. 2006. Movement distances of five rodents and two marsupial species in forest fragments of the coastal Atlantic Rainforest, Brazil. Ecotropica 12:131-139.

Abstract. Movement distances provide information on diverse population biological parameters and are essential in understanding the ecology of a species. Mean distances moved between successive captures (SD), distribution of movement distances, and the mean maximum distances moved (MMDM) were investigated in five rodent and two marsupial species in forest fragments of the coastal Atlantic rainforest (Mata Atlântica) in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The investigated species were the rodents Akodon montensis (Thomas, 1902), Oligoryzomys nigripes (Olfers, 1818), Delomys sublineatus (Thomas, 1903), Oryzomys russatus (Wagner, 1848), and Thaptomys nigrita (Lichtenstein, 1829), and the marsupials Marmosops incanus (Lund 1840), and Gracilinanus microtarsus (Wagner, 1842). Akodon montensis differed significantly from all other species and moved the lowest SD and MMDM. The marsupials differed significantly from most of the rodents and moved the largest SDs. All species showed the highest frequency of movements in a distance class of 0–20 m. Differences between sexes in SD was detected for O. nigripes, O. russatus, and G. microtarsus, males moving significantly longer distances than females. The different study sites had no influence on SD in any of the investigated species. Only the males of G. microtarsus showed a seasonal variation in SD, moving longer distances during reproductive activity.