WINTER MAMMALOGY FIELD DAY
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(Schedules etc. subject to modification)

Vertebrate Winter Ecology –  Mammals Readings LC Chapter 4: p93-125 (on mammals & birds; also assigned for Winter Ornithology - review text on mammals) Interested in more? re Mammals: LC Chapter 7:  p185-212 (=sections on northern cervids & semiaquatic mammals) on Plant-Animal Interactions: LC Chapter 6 A different treatment in WEH: Chapter 3: p65-162 Lesson points (in parallel with those for Birds) What are the major survival issues for mammals in winter? What are Physiological, Morphological, and Behavior adaptations for coping with these issues?  many, many ... so organize these in terms of (e.g., give examples of) the next 2 '●' questions– How are these integrated together to give mammals solutions to winter conditions? What is the relationship between winter activity/dormancy domain (as part of behavior) and food preferences (expressed morphologically and physiologically)? What are some adaptations in mammals that involve strongly linked physiology and morphology?  How does this integration work? - that is, for a given linked adaptation - what are the physiological mechanisms and how do they depend on the morphology? What is the equation for thermal flux?  How do mammals 'manipulate' each term to reduce heat loss in winter? What is "density-dependent" vs. "density-independent" mortality?   How do these relate to survivorship of overwintering mammal populations? - maybe easier to explain giving examples. Other Resources: No Room at the Top, by Paul Tolmé. National Wildlife, 44(1): 22-30 (Dec-Jan 2006) -  High mountain species and global warming. Online article <from: http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?issueID=79&articleID=1147>  (Print article: pdf, 8M) Song of the Alpine:  The Rocky Mountain Tundra Through the Seasons, by Joyce Gellhorn (2002, Johnson Books, Boulder).  Chapters 7, 10, 12 provide an description of animal responses to winter.  - also listed for Winter Ornithology Human physiological response - Surviving cold shock... [http://www.exn.ca/video/?Video=exn20020325-icewater.asx] -link dead (3/09)

click image to enlarge comic: source: http://www.comics.com/comics/monty/archive/monty-20080106.html

8:30a – Weather briefing - Daily Weather Discussion handouts: Archive 8:40a – 12:30p –  Field: Winter activities of montane forest mammals: Tracking sign – Guest field instructor: Derek Sweeney. FIELD -  Bring Field Journal topo map snacks If you have:  Binoculars Field guide to animal tracks and/or to mammals Snowshoes work alot better than skis for the mammal day, we are mainly on the flats and do alot of zigzagging through the trees, if you have snowshoes (and poles), bring them, I will also bring some extra pairs -- a note from Derek Handouts Mammal Basic Track Patterns - from A Guide to Nature in Winter (D. Stokes, see Resources), compiled by Sheryn Olson (pdf, 500k) Mammal Tracking Guide - compiled by Sheryn Olson, from Resources below (pdf, 670k) Lesson points As lesson points above Related Links  Mammals of Rocky Mtn NPk, (see featured links for Elk, Moose, Big Horn) Colorado Rockies Mammal Tracks Resources A Guide to Nature in Winter, by Donald Stokes (1976; Little, Brown & Co.) Field Guide to Tracking Animals in the Snow, by Louise Forrest (1988, Stackpole Books) Scats and Tracks of the Rocky Mountains, by James Halfpenny (2001, 2nd ed., A Falcon Guide) Mammal Tracks and Sign.  A Guide to North American Species, by Mark Elbroach (2002, Stackpole Books) A Field Guide to Animal Tracks, by Olaus Murie (1954, Peterson Field Guides, Houghton Mifflin, Boston).  A classic - in this guide to animal sign, Murie includes personal essays on North American mammals. Snow prints of an owl having caught a rabbit photo: S. Barstow photo (source)

12:30 – Lunch, at the Lodge

1:00-5:00p – LAB: Mammals of Front Range montane forest and alpine tundra: Winter adaptations – Guest field instructor: Derek Sweeney

Handouts	Lab Worksheet: Mammal Specimens Worksheet (pdf, 17k) Study Guides: by Sheryn Olson Mammal Winter Adaptions Lab Exercise, Review, and Resources - review of readings (pdf, 500k) Winter Mammalogy Worksheet - fillable file (doc, 120k) Mammal Orders (pdf, 20k)
Lesson points	Aa lesson points above
Resources	Mammal Guides - Mammals of Colorado, by J.P. Fitzgerald, C.A. Meaney, and D.M. Armstrong (1994, Denver Museum of Natural History & Univ Press of Colorado.  ISBN 0-87081-333-1) Earlier incarnation: Distribution of Mammals of Colorado, by David Armstrong (1972, Museum of Natural History Monograph No. 3, Univ of Kansas, Lawrence). Rocky Mountain Mammals, by David Armstrong. A Field Guide to the Mammals, by W.L. Burt & R.P. Grossenheider (Peterson Field Guides, Houghton Mifflin, Boston). Mammals of the Central Rockies, by Jan Wassink (1993, Mountain Press, Missoula) Mammals of the Pacific States, - Includes discussions of many of the larger mammals also found in the Rockies
Related Studies	Monitoring Mammal Populations/Distribution with Tracking - Lynx in Yellowstone (pdf, 400k) Wolves in Alberta (pdf, 2M)  Cougar in Arizona (pdf, 3M)
Other resources	The natural history of weasels and stoats: ecology, behavior, and management.  By Carolyn M. King, Roger A. Powell, Consie Powell Edition: 2, illustrated.  Oxford University Press US, 2007 ISBN 0195300564, 9780195300567. 446 pages Google books: http://books.google.com/books?id=5ae9c7GO_cUC

2012	This year's results -
2010	click images to enlarge  2010 mammal field observations - Blackboard image: jpg Tracks: Red Squirrel & Snowshoe Hare Red Squirrel's subnivean cache entrance [photos: T.Kittel]
2008	2008 mammal field observations - Blackboard images (#1: jpg, #2 jpg, @1.4M, c/o David Rosengarten)

rev.  21 Jan 11