Bk. Clark et al., USE OF CAVES BY EASTERN WOODRATS (NEOTOMA-FLORIDANA) IN RELATION TO BAT POPULATIONS, INTERNAL CAVE CHARACTERISTICS AND SURFACE HABITATS, The American midland naturalist, 131(2), 1994, pp. 359-364
We assessed use of caves by eastern woodrats (Neotoma floridana) in no
rth-eastern Oklahoma by examining distributions of old and new fecal p
ellets. Old pellets were found in all 18 caves examined. No significan
t difference was noted in numbers of plots with old pellets for transe
cts along left, center and right regions of all cave passages. Further
, no difference was noted when numbers of plots with old pellets along
both walls were pooled and then compared to those in the middle of pa
ssages. Length of each cave passage was subdivided into three zones (e
ntrance, middle and deep). Numbers of plots with old pellets decreased
significantly from entrance to deep zones in caves with few bats (<50
bats at a single time). However, in caves with many (greater-than-or-
equal-to 50) bats at a single time, no significant decrease was noted
in plots with pellets from the entrance to deep zones. No significant
difference was noted between plots with old pellets near the entrance
of caves with many and few bats. Caves that were used by many bats had
more plots with old pellets in middle and deep zones than did caves w
ith few bats. Distributions of new pellets were positively correlated
with distributions of old pellets. Reasons for woodrat use of middle a
nd deep zones of caves remain unclear; most of these areas have no rea
dily apparent resources except for aggregations of bats.