The Effect of Road Density and Proximity on Predation Attempts on the White Footed Mouse (Peromyscus Leucopus)

Authors have hypothesized that observed increases in small mammal populations with increasing road density may be due to predation release. Based on the predation release hypothesis, I predicted that Peromyscus leucopus placed in sites with higher surrounding paved road density and/or closer to a paved road would experience fewer predation attempts than P. leucopus placed in sites with lower surrounding paved road density and/or farther from a paved road. Considering all predators, there was no evidence of any decrease in predation attempts in relation to paved road density. Considering only raptorial birds there was evidence of a decrease in predation attempts with paved road density, and an increase with increasing distance from the road as predicted. Overall, these results provide weak support for the hypothesis that reduced predation causes the positive relationship between road density and small mammal abundance.