128 James L. Boone and Joshua Laerm 



the Swamp, an area more accessible to migrants from the Chowan 

 Swamp where P. gossypinus is abundant, whereas the majority of 

 Rose et al.'s (1990) effort was concentrated in the northern section 

 of the Swamp where P. gossypinus might be absent. 



Although P. gossypinus is abundant in areas near the Dismal 

 Swamp, it is probably not currently abundant in the swamp proper. 

 Handley (1979) stated that P. gossypinus densities fluctuate widely in 

 the Swamp, and this population could simply be at a low point in 

 its cycle. This species now occurs in the Great Dismal Swamp, but 

 current management practices in the Great Dismal Swamp National 

 Wildlife Refuge that promote clearings and vegetational heterogeneity 

 might endanger it because we have observed that P. gossypinus occurs 

 in greatest density in mature, undisturbed riparian forests. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS— -The Savannah River Ecology Laboratory 

 under contract DE-AC09-76SR00819 between the U. S. Department 

 of Energy and the University of Georgia's Institute of Ecology, the 

 University of Georgia Museum of Natural History, Sigma Xi, and the 

 Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Fund administered by the American 

 Museum of Natural History provided support for this work, and Kevin 

 Roe assisted with the trapping. 



LITERATURE CITED 



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Dice, L. R. 1940. Relationship between the wood-mouse and the cotton- 

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Handley, C. O., Jr. 1979. Mammals of the Dismal Swamp: a historical 

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Magnarelli, L. A., J. H. Oliver, H. J. Hutcheson, J. L. Boone, and J. F. 

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Robbins, L. W., M. H. Smith, M. C. Wooten, and R. K. Selander. 1985. 

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