Vegetation height and height variability drive habitat occupancy in riparian areas for New Mexico jumping mice

The New Mexico jumping mouse (Zapus luteus) is a federally endangered species reliant on riparian areas in the southwestern United States. Restoration of habitat in riparian areas would reduce threats to the species and enable recovery, and quantifying specific habitat features that support occupancy of the species throughout its range will inform management of these areas. With this objective, we surveyed for New Mexico jumping mice for 3 days each at 113 sites across Arizona and New Mexico and measured conditions of the vegetation, soil, and streams. We then constructed occupancy models to estimate detection probability and identify habitat variables important in predicting use by the species. We found that occupancy of New Mexico jumping mice was best predicted by high variability in vegetation height, tall vegetation, variation in soil moisture, stream gradient, and stream width. New Mexico jumping mice were more likely to occupy sites with consistently high soil moisture, vegetation height >60 cm with variable vegetation structure and wide streams with low gradients. Additionally, we assessed which vegetation variables were most useful in describing occupied and unoccupied sites. Reducing the number of vegetation variables that need to be measured to adequately assess conditions important to the New Mexico jumping mouse could help optimize survey protocols. This information can provide guidelines for local conditions that could be targeted for conservation and restoration to favor occupancy of the species.