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mark-recapture (Sciuridae)

Subcategory: demographic monitoring

Papers: 164 | Mentions: 174

Local Knowledge Graph (Top 76 entities)

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Method synopsis

A 20-year longitudinal study tracking individually marked female marmots through live-trapping, unique marking, and behavioral observations to quantify social relationships and lifetime fitness. Uses standardized mark-recapture techniques with genetic confirmation of maternity.

Synthesized from method descriptions across 164 papers using this protocol.

Procedure from a recent peer-reviewed implementation

Steps below were extracted from the most recent peer-reviewed implementation of this protocol in the corpus — Is early life adversity associated with adult stress in a wild rodent? (2025), Ecology and Evolution. Implementations in other papers (listed below) may differ.

Live trap marmots biweekly
Marmots were live trapped biweekly in Tomahawk traps baited with Omalene 100 horse feed that was set at the entrances of their burrows. Trapping occurred from mid-April to mid-September during peak activity hours (0700 to 1100h; 1600 to 1900h).
Quantities: Biweekly trapping sessions across the colony sitesDuration: Mid-April to mid-September annually, during specified activity hoursConditions: Peak activity times 0700-1100h and 1600-1900h
Equipment: Tomahawk traps, Omalene 100 horse feed
Mark and measure captured individuals
At capture, individuals were sexed and measured, their reproductive status noted, and blood, fecal and hair samples collected. When first captured, all marmots received unique ear tags and an individually unique mark on their dorsal pelage using Nyanzol dye to create a unique mark.
Quantities: All captured individuals processedDuration: During each capture eventConditions: Upon capture in traps
Equipment: ear tags, Nyanzol dye
Collect fecal samples
Feces were collected in plastic bags and immediately placed in coolers to be transferred to a −20°C freezer within 2h. The samples were then transported at −20°C to UCLA for the extraction of FGMs.
Fecal samples from each captured individual

Typical Equipment

live traps
ear tags
Nyzanol dye
binoculars
15x35x spotting scopes

Output Measurements

lifetime reproductive success
longevity
social network positions
capture histories

mark-recapture (Sciuridae)

Local Knowledge Graph (Top 76 entities)

Method synopsis

Procedure from a recent peer-reviewed implementation

Typical Equipment

Output Measurements

Papers Using This Protocol (164)

Is social plasticity good? Does lifetime social variation enhance LRS and longevity in yellow-bellied marmots?

The heritability of fear: decomposing sources of variation in marmot flight initiation distance

Conditional syndromes: Effect of human disturbance and age on the correlation between flight initiation distance and vigilance in marmots

Society formation and maintenance in yellow-bellied marmots

Sick and alone? Evaluating how immune response is associated with social network position in yellow-bellied marmots

Social security: individuals in socially reciprocal groups may perceive security from predators

Examining the effects of environmental variation on sociality in yellow-bellied marmots utilizing a within-individual centering approach

Multilevel selection on individual and group social behaviour in the wild

Species Studied With This Protocol

Marmota

Yellow-bellied Marmot

Spermophilus

Callospermophilus lateralis

Marmota marmota

birds and mammals

Urocitellus columbianus

Lizards

Marmota monax

Vulpes vulpes

Places Where Used

Colorado

Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory

Gothic

Colorado East River Valley

Gunnison County

Marmot Meadow

Picnic

Crested Butte

River

USA

Dispersal of the golden-mantled ground squirrel (Callospermophilus lateralis)

Is early life adversity associated with adult stress in a wild rodent?

Is the propensity to alarm-call heritable and related across multiple contexts?

Nonlinear phenomena in marmot alarm calls: a mechanism encoding fear?

Climatic variation and risk assessment in a highly seasonal mammal

Timing of seasonal events is correlated with social network position in a wild mammal

Does current weather or seasonality influence antipredator vigilance in a hibernating mammal?

Detecting context dependence in the expression of life history trade-offs

Effects of trophic phenological synchrony or dyssynchrony on maternal investment of a small herbivorous mammal (Callospermophilus lateralis)

Social Security: Do Individuals in Tight-Knit Social Groups Perceive Greater Security?

Investigating the role of climate on juvenile Golden-mantled ground squirrel (Callospermophilus lateralis) growth and behavior

The social microbiome: gut microbiome diversity and abundance are negatively associated with sociality in a wild mammal

Daily roadkill monitoring and long-term population census reveal female-biased mortality for a small mammal along a wildland-urban interface

Demographic consequences of changes in environmental periodicity

Group social structure has limited impact on reproductive success in a wild mammal

Emergent social structure is typically not associated with survival in a facultatively social mammal

The timing of reproduction is responding plastically, not genetically, to climate change in yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer)

Take only pictures, leave only... Cameras influence marmot vigilance but not perceptions of risk

Agonistic and affiliative social relationships are associated with marmot docility but not boldness

The (surprising) importance of males in a matrilineal society: behavioural insights from a topological knockout study

Extending the social cohesion hypothesis: Is group cohesion associated with dispersal?

Social security: Does social position influence flight initiation distance?

Hibernation slows epigenetic ageing in yellow-bellied marmots

Sex-specific reproductive strategies in wild yellow-bellied marmots (<i> Marmota flaviventer </i>): senescence and genetic variance in annual reproductive success differ between the sexes

Early-life trade-offs in golden-mantled ground squirrel sociality and growth rate

The social microbiome: the relationship between the microbiome and sociality in a wild mammal

Is flight initiation distance associated with longer-term survival in yellow-bellied marmots (<i> Marmota flaviventer </i>)?

Causes and consequences of pre-hibernation body mass in golden-mantled ground squirrels (Callospermophilus lateralis)

Marmot mass gain rates relate to their group’s social structure

Maternal survival costs in an asocial mammal

Habitat selection in a fluctuating ground squirrel population: Density - dependence and fitness consequences

Is flight initiation distance associated with longer-term survival in yellow-bellied marmots (<i> Marmota flaviventer </i>)?

Estimating the heritability of female dispersal in yellow-bellied marmots

The Influence of Summer Precipitation and Temperature on Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel Pup Foraging.

Bridging animal personality with space use and resource use in a free-ranging population of an asocial ground squirrel

Bigger is not always better: Viability selection on body mass varies across life stages in a hibernating mammal

How social behaviour and life-history traits change with age and in the year prior to death in female yellow-bellied marmots

How do humans impact yellow-bellied marmots? An integrative analysis

Habituation or sensitization? Long-term responses of yellow-bellied marmots to human disturbance

Behavioral and spatial dynamics in a fluctuating population of golden-mantled ground squirrels (<i>Callospermophilus lateralis</i>)

Contrasting effects of climate change on seasonal survival of a hibernating mammal.

Heritable variation in the timing of emergence from hibernation

Age and location influence the costs of compensatory and accelerated growth in a hibernating mammal