Abstract Identifying the elements within human-altered landscapes most associated with population and community changes is critical for conservation and management of sensitive species. We investigated which features of habitat change from natural gas development best explained the density of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), an important nest predator of declining sagebrush-obligate songbirds. During 2014–2016, we quantified the spatial extent of habitat change (well pads, roads, and reclaimed areas [i.e., reseeded soils]) surrounding 12 sites spanning two natural gas fields in Wyoming, USA. We further tested whether the altered plant communities within reclaimed areas provided benefits to deer mice, by assessing multiple fitness indices. Deer mouse density increased with surrounding reclaimed area. Powder tracking and dietary analyses confirmed that mice moved through and consumed plant species found exclusively within reclaimed areas. Concomitant fitness metrics of mice, however, were neutrally or negatively related to the amount of surrounding reclaimed area. Mice therefore did not derive any apparent fitness benefits associated with living near reclaimed areas, despite the presence of novel food resources, indicating that increased abundance may be a product of mice dispersing toward reseeded soils. Our study contributes mechanistic insights into the complexities of how human-induced changes to landscapes can influence community dynamics. Minimizing total habitat disturbed during construction, expediting reclamation practices, and using only native and regionally-local seed mixes would likely help minimize increases in synanthropic rodent predators within energy fields. More efficient restoration of disturbed habitat, moreover, may help ameliorate altered predator-prey relationships that affect the success of sensitive species.

中文翻译：

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天然气田中的新景观元素增加了重要鸣禽巢穴捕食者的密度，但不增加其适应度

摘要 确定与人口和社区变化最相关的人类改变景观中的元素对于敏感物种的保护和管理至关重要。我们调查了天然气开发引起的栖息地变化的哪些特征最能解释鹿鼠（Peromyscus maniculatus）的密度，这是一种重要的山艾树专性鸣禽的重要巢穴捕食者。在 2014-2016 年期间，我们量化了美国怀俄明州两个天然气田 12 个地点周围栖息地变化的空间范围（井垫、道路和开垦区 [即重新播种的土壤]）。我们通过评估多个健康指数进一步测试了开垦区域内改变的植物群落是否对鹿鼠有益。鹿鼠密度随着周围的开垦面积增加。粉末追踪和饮食分析证实，老鼠穿过并食用了仅在开垦地区发现的植物物种。然而，小鼠的伴随健康指标与周围开垦区域的数量呈中性或负相关。因此，尽管存在新的食物资源，但小鼠并未从生活在开垦地区附近获得任何明显的健康益处，这表明丰度增加可能是小鼠向重新播种的土壤扩散的产物。我们的研究为人类引起的景观变化如何影响社区动态的复杂性提供了机械见解。尽量减少施工期间对总栖息地的干扰，加快开垦实践，并且仅使用本地和区域本地种子混合物可能有助于最大限度地减少能源领域内同人类啮齿动物捕食者的增加。此外，更有效地恢复受干扰的栖息地可能有助于改善影响敏感物种成功的捕食者-猎物关系的改变。