Methods Used To Survey Shrews (Insectivora: Soricidae) And 

 The Importance Of Forest-Floor Structure 



Timothy S. McCay 



Institute of Ecology and Department of Statistics, University of Georgia, 



Athens, Georgia 30602 



Joshua Laerm 

 Museum of Natural History, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602 



M. Alex Menzel 



Daniel B. Warnell School of Forest Resources, University of Georgia, 



Athens, Georgia 30602 



and 



William M. Ford 



Westvaco Corporation, Timberlands Division, Box 577, Rupert, 



West Virginia 25984 



ABSTRACT— We examined shrew (Insectivora: Soricidae) capture 

 rates using selective (best-site) transects, linear transects, and drift- 

 fence arrays to better understand how pitfall trap arrangement might 

 affect our perception of shrew assemblages in the southern Appalachi- 

 an mountains. Also, we studied the use of microhabitat structure 

 (coarse woody or rocky debris) by shrews to determine how microhab- 

 itat selection might affect capture probabilities. The distributions of 

 shrew captures were similar at selective and linear transects, but differ- 

 ent between either transect type and the drift-fence arrays (P < 0.05). 

 Differences in the effectiveness of trap arrangements were apparently 

 related to microhabitat use. We found a gradient of selection for habi- 

 tat structure among Sorexfumeus, S. cinereus, and Blarina brevicauda, 

 although relationships were weak. Captures of S. fumeus were most 

 closely associated with the abundance of and distance to woody or 

 rocky debris, and those of B. brevicauda were independent of these 

 microhabitat factors. Caution should be used when comparing the 

 results of surveys using different pitfall trap arrangements. 



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