Speaker: How the Personalities of Small Mammals Shape Forest Growth

We all know our cats and dogs have personalities, but have you ever wondered about the squirrels in your backyard? How would you evaluate personality traits in squirrels, mice, or voles and why would you bother?

These small mammals play an important but often unseen role in forest regeneration and the movement of trees, dispersing the seeds of the towering forests here in Maine. Personality in the mice and voles of our forests has consequences for where small mammals are living, how they are foraging, and what they are doing with the seeds they find, influencing forest regeneration. Small mammals with contrasting personality traits are contributing to ecosystem services such as seed dispersal in different ways.

Land-use change, such as forest management or urbanization, and climate change are also at work altering the composition of forests and the distribution of personality traits within populations. Researchers at Alessio Mortelliti’s lab at University of Maine are investigating the impact of small mammal personality on several ecological processes that shape the forest landscape. Come hear PhD candidate, Maisie Merz, talk about the interesting and important work and that she and the research team are doing right here in Maine.