Ecological Observations on a Feral House Mouse Population Declining to Extinction

摘要: It is clearly an unusual opportunity for ecologist to be able observe in detail the extinction of a species over large area. Quite understandably, ecologists tend study common which are not likely disappear during time study. This report documents events occurring population house mice (Mus musculus), living on 55 acre Brooks Island San Francisco Bay, as it declined period little one year. The was initiated with expectation that would become extinct, but rather because occurred island very high densities, and hoped something could learned about density regulation this under these congested, yet completely feral, conditions. Almost exactly coincident beginning my studies September 1958, few individuals Microtus californicus were accidentally introduced from neighboring islet, rapidly colonized entire island. history colonization exploitation by documented earlier paper (Lidicker Anderson 1962). Refer also more complete description its recent history. For our purposes here, perhaps sufficient