Mammal Inventory of the Mojave Network Parks and Charles Drost and Jan Hart USGS Southwest Biological Science Center Colorado Plateau Research Station

Mojave Network Parks

Objectives For each area, determine or provide data on: mammal species composition mammal species composition distribution and abundance distribution and abundance biological & natural history information biological & natural history information spatial data on sampling spatial data on sampling museum voucher specimens, as appropriate museum voucher specimens, as appropriate

Targeted Areas

Targeted Habitats

Death Valley National Park Death Valley National Park Greenwater Range and Greenwater Valley Greenwater Range and Greenwater Valley Owlshead Mountains Owlshead Mountains Inyo Range Inyo Range Ibex Hills Ibex Hills Argus Range / Darwin Plateau Argus Range / Darwin Plateau Springs (Cottonwood and Panamint Mountains) Springs (Cottonwood and Panamint Mountains) Joshua Tree National Park Joshua Tree National Park Little San Bernardino Mountains Little San Bernardino Mountains Pinto Wash/Pinto Dunes Pinto Wash/Pinto Dunes Coxcomb / Eagle Mountains Coxcomb / Eagle Mountains Quail Springs Watershed Quail Springs Watershed Fan Palm Oases Fan Palm Oases Lost Horse and Hidden Valleys Lost Horse and Hidden Valleys

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Lake Mead National Recreation Area Shivwits Plateau Shivwits Plateau Newberry Mountains Newberry Mountains Black Mountains Black Mountains Gold Butte Gold Butte Springs Springs Sandy benches near water Sandy benches near water Manzanar National Historic Site Manzanar National Historic Site Riparian Community Riparian Community Cottonwood Grove Cottonwood Grove Blackbrush Scrub Blackbrush Scrub Mojave National Preserve Mojave National Preserve Springs and Seeps Springs and Seeps Piute Range Piute Range Limestone Substrates and Sand Dunes Limestone Substrates and Sand Dunes High elevation areas High elevation areas

Methods: Literature and Museum Specimens Published Accounts Published Accounts Museum specimens Museum specimens NPS Record cards NPS Record cards Other Local Data and Resources Other Local Data and Resources

Museum Specimen Review

Field Methods Live Traps Live Traps Sherman (rodents) Sherman (rodents) Tomahawk (medium-sized mammals) Tomahawk (medium-sized mammals) Visual Surveys Visual Surveys Automatic Cameras Automatic Cameras Methods for Bats Methods for Bats Mist Netting Mist Netting Ultrasonic Surveys Ultrasonic Surveys

Small Mammal Trapping

Medium-size Mammals

Mist Netting

Anabat

Mammal Sampling Effort # of Visits Person-days Trap-nights # of Visits Person-days Trap-nights DEVA ,397 DEVA ,397 JOTR ,492 JOTR ,492 LAME ,313 LAME ,313 MANZ MANZ MOJA ,538 MOJA ,538 Total: ,344 Total: ,344

Rainfall Pattern Joshua Tree Death Valley

Total Mammal Species at Each Park DocumentedProbable Death Valley591 Joshua Tree504 Lake Mead598 Manzanar19 11 Mojave503

“Probable” Species Mostly Edge-of-Range

General Species Abundance Cumulative Captures, All Parks: Cumulative Captures, All Parks: Cactus Mouse 229 Cactus Mouse 229 Merriam’s Kangaroo Rat170 Merriam’s Kangaroo Rat170 Canyon Mouse166 Canyon Mouse166 Desert Woodrat159 Desert Woodrat159 Deer Mouse130 Deer Mouse130 Desert Pocket Mouse 74 Desert Pocket Mouse 74 Pallid Bat 55 Pallid Bat 55 Western Pipistrelle 35 Western Pipistrelle 35

Some Other Results: “New Species”

Rare / Special Concern Species

Non-native Species

Final Report and Data Draft Reviewed by Parks Draft Reviewed by Parks Suggest Adding Annotated Species Section Suggest Adding Annotated Species Section Taxonomic Changes Taxonomic Changes Documentation Documentation Distribution and Abundance Distribution and Abundance Known Population Trends Known Population Trends Other Notes Other Notes

Monitoring Considerations  Small Mammals as Monitoring Subjects  Response to Expected Change  Possible Focus on Edge-of-Range Species  Potential “Repeat Inventory” Approach  Monitoring Habitat vs. Monitoring Organisms within Habitat

Acknowledgments Special thanks to NPS staff, including Linda Greene, Linda Manning, and Dana York (Death Valley National Park), Hank McCutchen, Harold De Lisle, Amy Fesnock, and Jane Rodgers (Joshua Tree National Park), Kent Turner, Ross Haley, and Libby Powell (Lake Mead National Recreation Area), Frank Hays (Manzanar National Historic Site), and Larry Whalon, Debra Hughson, and Kitty Jensen (Mojave National Preserve). Darla Sidles (Parashant National Monument) assisted with access to the Shivwits Plateau area of Lake Mead NRA and the adjacent Parashant NM. Jim Andre (University of California Granite Mountains Reserve) aided us in our sampling of the Granite Mountains area of Mojave NP. Special thanks to NPS staff, including Linda Greene, Linda Manning, and Dana York (Death Valley National Park), Hank McCutchen, Harold De Lisle, Amy Fesnock, and Jane Rodgers (Joshua Tree National Park), Kent Turner, Ross Haley, and Libby Powell (Lake Mead National Recreation Area), Frank Hays (Manzanar National Historic Site), and Larry Whalon, Debra Hughson, and Kitty Jensen (Mojave National Preserve). Darla Sidles (Parashant National Monument) assisted with access to the Shivwits Plateau area of Lake Mead NRA and the adjacent Parashant NM. Jim Andre (University of California Granite Mountains Reserve) aided us in our sampling of the Granite Mountains area of Mojave NP.