First record of a least weasel in Nunavik

IF 2.7 3区地球科学 Q2 ECOLOGY

Arctic Science Pub Date : 2022-10-20 DOI:10.1139/as-2022-0029

D. Fauteux

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The spatial distributions of several small mammals in Nunavik, Québec, Canada, currently do not rely on any recorded observations due to the rarity of wildlife surveys in that area. This is concerning because understanding changes in wildlife populations in response to the rapidly warming Arctic requires knowledge of prior population states. On the 18th of July 2021, my assistant and I captured a least weasel (Mustela nivalis Linnaeus 1766) alive 11 km south-west of Salluit during a live trapping session of lemmings and voles. Identification was done with the small body mass (44 g), the presence of prominent testicles indicating maturity, short length of the tail and pale color at the tip of the tail. All these criteria combined fits only the description of least weasels. According to the available records for this species, this observation is the first one confirmed in Nunavik. This low Arctic area was already included in the species distribution described in the literature, but no record supported it up to now. It is of particular importance considering this species is susceptible to be designated as threatened or vulnerable in the province of Quebec according to the Centre de données sur le patrimoine naturel du Québec.

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努纳维克首次记录到最小黄鼠狼

加拿大魁北克省努纳维克市几种小型哺乳动物的空间分布目前不依赖于任何记录的观测，因为该地区的野生动物调查很少。这是令人担忧的，因为了解野生动物种群因北极快速变暖而发生的变化需要了解先前的种群状态。2021年7月18日，在一次旅鼠和田鼠的现场诱捕活动中，我和助手在萨鲁特西南11公里处捕获了一只活得最少的黄鼠狼（Mustela nivalis Linnaeus 1766）。鉴定时体重较小（44克），睾丸突出，表明成熟，尾巴短，尾巴尖端颜色浅。所有这些标准加在一起只符合对最小黄鼠狼的描述。根据该物种的现有记录，这是努纳维克首次确认的观测结果。这个低北极地区已经被包括在文献中描述的物种分布中，但到目前为止没有任何记录支持它。根据魁北克省自然遗产保护中心的说法，考虑到该物种在魁北克省易被指定为受威胁或易受伤害物种，这一点尤为重要。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Arctic Science Agricultural and Biological Sciences-General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

CiteScore

5.00

自引率

12.10%

发文量

期刊介绍： Arctic Science is an interdisciplinary journal that publishes original peer-reviewed research from all areas of natural science and applied science & engineering related to northern Polar Regions. The focus on basic and applied science includes the traditional knowledge and observations of the indigenous peoples of the region as well as cutting-edge developments in biological, chemical, physical and engineering science in all northern environments. Reports on interdisciplinary research are encouraged. Special issues and sections dealing with important issues in northern polar science are also considered.