The Golden Mouse: Ecology and Conservation

Ecology of the Golden Mouse will interest students and professionals in ecology, conservation biology, mammalogy, and wildlife management. The golden mouse is used as a model to explore conceptual issues in ecology across all levels of organization from organism to landscape, integrating reductionist and holistic ecological science. Through intensive study of a single species, the authors demonstrate biological and ecological information applicable to many fields, including conservation and resource management.

At the individual level, the authors discuss topics such as natural history, systematics, behavior, nest construction, home range, and movements, as well as the unique bioenergetic strategy of the golden mouse, their population dynamics, growth, and genetics. At the community level, coexistence with sympatric species, competitive interactions, mutualism, parasitism, and the benefits of semi-arboreal living are discussed. Chapters also provide direction for further research by including questions yet to be addressed, intended to promote future integrative studies across levels of organization.

Gary Barrett, Odum Professor of Ecology at the University of Georgia, is the author of Landscape Ecology of Small Mammals, published by Springer in 1999, which has sold 846 copies. He is also the author with the late Eugene Odum of Fundamentals of Ecology, 5/e, published in 2004.

George A. Feldhamer is Professor of Zoology, and Director of the Environmental Studies Program at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL.