Relationship of Peromyscus Mice to Hemlock and Nonhemlock Forest Communities of the Cumberland Plateau, Tennesse

The invasive hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae ) (HWA) causes widespread mortality to eastern hemlock ( Tsuga canadensis) trees in the United States and was first documented on the Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee in 2008. Many studies have examined the impact of lost hemlock habitat on birds, salamanders, aquatic invertebrates, and ants, but few on small mammals, especially in the southern extent of the eastern hemlock range.;In 2013 and 2014, hemlock and associated non-hemlock stands in Putnam, White, and Van Buren counties on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee were sampled to look for relationships between forest composition and the rodent community composition in hemlock forests prior to tree loss expected from HWA infestation. The invertebrate community was also sampled to examine differences between hemlock and non-hemlock stands. Further, vegetative variables were measured to determine if differences between hemlock and non-hemlock stands influenced the small mammal community.;Peromyscus captures were greater in hemlock stands (Putnam County p = 0.0146, White County p = 0.0005, Van Buren County p = 0.0495) than control stands. A model was developed using logistic regression where five vegetative variables were predictive of mice captures; three (hemlock stem count, canopy density, and horizontal ground cover) included odds ratios higher than one. Additionally, the arthropod Order Polydesmida was more abundant in non-hemlock stands (Putnam County p < 0.001, White County p = 0.001, Van Buren County p =0.006.) It is unclear if greater mice captures in hemlock and greater abundance of Polydesmida in non-hemlock stands is indicative of a relationship between eastern hemlock trees, certain millipedes and Peromyscus mice. However, changes to Cumberland Plateau forest structure resulting from hemlock mortality via HWA may impact Peromyscus species composition locally with increased Peromyscus leucopus populations and decreased Peromyscus maniculatus populations.