Southern Research Station

Title: Contiguous allopatry of the masked shrew and southeastern shrew in the Southern Appalachians: segregation along an elevational and habitat gradient

Author: Ford, W. Mark; Menzel, Michael A.; McCay, Timothy S.; Laerm, Joshua

Date: 2001

Source: Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society. 117 (1): 20-28. (USDA Forest Service contributed funding for this research effort.)

Description: Southeastern shrew. (Sorex longirostris) and masked shrew (Sorex cinereus) distributions converge in the Southern Appalachians. A 306,454-pitfall--trapnight survey in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina doc-umented the presence of southeastern shrews in the Cumberland Plateau, Ridge and Valley, Upper Piedmont, and Blue Ridge physiographic provinces. South-eastern shrews occur at low elevations x = 524.9 m), primarily in xeric upland hardwood, mixed pine (Pinus spp.)-hardwood, and pine forests. Masked shrews only occur in the Blue Ridge at high elevations x = 1,069.6 m), primarily in mesic cove hardwood, northern hardwood, and montage streamside forests. Upper elevation limits of southeastern shrew and lower elevational limits of masked shrew show an inverse relation with latitude relative to shrew collections from farther north along the Appalachians. Southeastern shrews and masked shrews are allopatric in the Southern Appalachians except in the Blue Ridge, where the species exhibits contiguous allopatry, based on elevation and habitat associations.

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Citation

Ford, W. Mark; Menzel, Michael A.; McCay, Timothy S.; Laerm, Joshua  2001.  Contiguous allopatry of the masked shrew and southeastern shrew in the Southern Appalachians: segregation along an elevational and habitat gradient.   Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society. 117 (1): 20-28. (USDA Forest Service contributed funding for this research effort.)