ABSTRACT
Modern forestry methods by cutting all trees in an area of several hectares provide superb plots for the study of various animals. These “clear cuts” rapidly pass through successional stages which are easily measured. A standard small mammal sampling grid employed is 16 × 16 with 15 m between stations and has an effective sampling area of 5.76 ha; however, this grid may be too large to be accommodated on many clearcuts, particularly those in the eastern US Sampling variation between clearcuts and uncut control plots can be reduced by selecting control plots that are similar to the clearcut in slope, aspect, and original forest type. Pitfall traps must be removed following sampling so that they do not continue to function as death traps for shrews and small rodents for months or years after the study.
