Range Expansion of Sigmodon hispidus (Hispid Cotton Rat) into Reclaimed Coal Surface-Mines in Southeastern Kentucky

Brittany L. Slabach; James J. Krupa

doi:10.1656/058.017.0407

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1 January 2018 Range Expansion of Sigmodon hispidus (Hispid Cotton Rat) into Reclaimed Coal Surface-Mines in Southeastern Kentucky

Brittany L. Slabach, James J. Krupa

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Southeastern Naturalist, 17(4): (2018). https://doi.org/10.1656/058.017.0407

Abstract

Sigmodon hispidus (Hispid Cotton Rat) is the most wide-spread species of Sigmodon in North America. In recent years, this species has expanded northward and westward in the western part of its range due to changes in habitat and climate. Evidence suggests northward expansion is also occurring in Kentucky. Since the 1980s, extensive coal mining via surface mining and mountain-top removal has transformed more than 2300 km2 of hardwood forests on the Cumberland Plateau of eastern Kentucky. Mining has transformed the landscape, once characterized by forests with deep valleys, steep slopes, and narrow, winding ridgetops into reclaimed sites with a relatively flat landscape dominated by grasses and forbs suitable for run-making rodents. Hispid Cotton Rat is thus poised to expand into the reclaimed mines of eastern Kentucky. We report the first record of Hispid Cotton Rat from a reclaimed-mine site and predict this species will expand its range north and east through this new habitat.

Citation Download Citation

Brittany L. Slabach and James J. Krupa "Range Expansion of Sigmodon hispidus (Hispid Cotton Rat) into Reclaimed Coal Surface-Mines in Southeastern Kentucky," Southeastern Naturalist 17(4), (1 January 2018). https://doi.org/10.1656/058.017.0407

Published: 1 January 2018

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