Fine-Scale Vegetation Structure Influences Mammal Habitat Use and Diversity in Canebrakes of Southern Illinois

Vegetation structure and composition are often important determinants of mammalian habitat use. Arundinaria gigantea (Giant Cane) is a bamboo species native to the US that historically was a prominent feature of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley landscape. Anecdotal historical records suggested canebrake importance for wildlife, but systematic study and quantitative analyses of the influence of canebrake on mammal habitat use is lacking. We conducted camera-trap surveys for mammals during 2022–2024 at 96 canebrake (n = 48) and forested (n = 48) site–year combinations across southern Illinois and evaluated community diversity and differences in mammal-detection rate between site types; however, we subsequently remove 1 canebrake site from analyses due to strong storm disturbance in 2024 at that site. We also examined the influence of fine-scale vegetation structure on mammal habitat use using single-species, single-season occupancy models. We detected 14 mammal species over 6458 trap nights across all sites. Mammal diversity was slightly higher in canebrake than forest sites based on the Rényi diversity profile. Detection rates of Canis latrans (Coyote) and Odocoileus virginianus (White-tailed Deer) were higher in forest than canebrake sites, while Marmota monax (Woodchuck) detection rate was higher in canebrake sites. Responses to habitat characteristics varied among species, although we found a positive relationship between Dasypus novemcinctus (Nine-banded Armadillo) habitat use and canebrake presence, while habitat use by Coyotes was negatively associated with canebrake presence. In addition, habitat use by Procyon lotor (Raccoon) was higher at sites with taller canebrakes. Although we did not find many significant positive associations between canebrakes and habitat use by mammals, we observed high species diversity in canebrake sites, which emphasizes their importance in enhancing floodplain landscape complexity and the need for restoring this cover type.