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Forests in the Sierra Nevada, similar to those across the continent, have been substantially altered by logging, fire exclusion, and other human activities. Current forest management emphasizes maintenance or restoration of resiliency in the face of contemporary disturbance factors that include wildfire, climate change, continued urbanization, and invasive species. We evaluated responses of small mammals to forest management by monitoring a series of 12 replicate trapping grids in compositionally homogeneous forest over 8 years, and implemented 2 levels of canopy thinning. Livetrapping efforts (119,712 trap-nights) yielded 15,613 captures of 2,305 individuals of 13 species, and although forest structure was significantly influenced by canopy treatments, small mammal numbers and assemblage composition were not. To better understand this we assessed habitat associations of small mammals at 599 census points on 75 transects established in a stratified random manner throughout Plumas National Forest....

Policy makers are increasingly encouraging farmers to protect or enhance habitat on their farms for wildlife conservation. However, a lack of knowledge of farmers’ opinions toward wildlife can lead to poor integration of conservation measures. We surveyed farmers to assess their perceptions of ecosystem services and disservices from perching birds, raptors, and bats—three taxa commonly targeted by conservation measures. The majority of farmers thought that perching birds and bats were beneficial for insect pest control and that raptors were beneficial for vertebrate pest control; however, fruit farmers viewed perching birds more negatively than did farmers growing other crops. Farmers using organic methods viewed all three wildlife groups more positively than conventional farmers. Farmer perception toward each wildlife group predicted their action to either attract or deter those taxa, suggesting the need to focus research and outreach on the effects of wildlife on farms for conservation programs to positively influence farmer perceptions.