Day 4

Causes of Death:

Predation: Major predators include owls, hawks, snakes, raccoons, and domestic cats. Predation is a significant cause of mortality, particularly for juveniles.

Sexual Competition: While competition among males can be intense, leading to occasional injuries, it is not a major cause of death.

Disease: Diseases such as typhus, and parasites like fleas, ticks, and mites can contribute to mortality. However, disease is not the primary cause of death.

Other Causes: Accidents such as falls during gliding, extreme weather conditions, and starvation, particularly in harsh winters, can also contribute to mortality.

Competition:

Intra-species: Within their species, southern flying squirrels compete for nesting sites, food resources, and mates. During the breeding season, males often compete for access to females.

Inter-species: They compete with other species such as birds, other rodents, and other squirrel species for food (e.g., nuts, seeds, fruits) and nesting sites.

What do they compete over: Competition primarily revolves around food resources and nesting sites.

Effect of invasive species: Invasive species such as the northern flying squirrel (in some regions) can compete for the same resources, potentially displacing the southern flying squirrel. Invasive predators like domestic cats also pose significant threats.

IUCN Rating:

What is the rating? The IUCN Red List classifies the southern flying squirrel as Least Concern (LC).

Population: The exact population size is not well-documented but is considered stable and widespread across its range.

Population Trend: The population trend is stable, though localized declines may occur due to habitat loss and fragmentation.

Impact of Humans:

What impacts have occurred: Human activities such as deforestation, urbanization, and habitat fragmentation have impacted their populations by reducing available habitat and food sources. Collisions with vehicles and predation by domestic pets also contribute to mortality.

Potential Future impacts: Future impacts could include further habitat loss due to urban expansion, climate change affecting their habitat and food supply, and increased predation by domestic animals.

How long have humans been interacting with species: Humans have interacted with southern flying squirrels indirectly for centuries, primarily through habitat modification and more recently through urbanization and domestication of pets.

Efforts being made to minimize impacts: Conservation efforts include habitat protection, reforestation projects, creating wildlife corridors to connect fragmented habitats, and public education to reduce pet predation. Research and monitoring programs help track population health and inform conservation strategies.