Roadless Areas
Home/Species/ Southern Bog Lemming

Synaptomys cooperi

Baird, 1858

Southern Bog Lemming

G5Secure Found in 2 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105343
Element CodeAMAFF17010
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassMammalia
OrderRodentia
FamilyCricetidae
GenusSynaptomys
Other Common Names
Campagnol-lemming de Cooper (FR) southern bog lemming (EN)
Concept Reference
Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2016-04-05
Change Date1996-11-13
Edition Date1987-04-22
Range Extent Comments
Southern Quebec west to southern Manitoba, south to Kansas, northern Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland.
Threat Impact Comments
In Kansas, moved out of or avoided areas subject to experimental prairie fire (Clark and Kaufman 1990). In southeastern Kentucky, apparently being displaced via competitive exclusion by expanding meadow vole populations (Krupa and Haskins 1996).
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Prefers boggy habitat but also common in marshes, meadows, and upland forests with thick humus layer (especially when conditions not hot and dry); areas with intermixture of herbaceous/shrubby vegetation. Occupies burrow systems usually 6-12 inches deep and surface runways (e.g., beneath sphagnum and among roots of shrubs). Young are born in nests placed on the surface in grassy vegetation or in underground burrows. In New Jersey, nests were just under the surface in tops of sphagnum hummocks (Conner 1959).

Ecology

Home range varies from 1/4 to 1 acre. Densities vary from 5 to 35 per ha, reaching 89/ha in peak years (Banfield 1974). Sometimes occurs on small colonies. Populations usually are scarce and scattered.

Reproduction

Breeds year-round; peak April-September. Gestation lasts 21-23 days. Litter size is 1-8 (average 2-5); multiple litters annually in the south. Sexually mature in 60 days, or less for males.
Terrestrial Habitats
Forest - HardwoodForest - ConiferForest - MixedShrubland/chaparralGrassland/herbaceous
Palustrine Habitats
HERBACEOUS WETLANDFORESTED WETLANDBog/fenRiparian
Other Nations (2)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
New JerseySUYes
PennsylvaniaS4Yes
South CarolinaSUYes
IndianaS3Yes
OhioSNRYes
VirginiaS5Yes
South DakotaS1Yes
District of ColumbiaS3Yes
TennesseeS4Yes
ArkansasS2Yes
MarylandS3Yes
MaineS4Yes
MassachusettsS2Yes
New HampshireS4Yes
VermontS2Yes
IowaS3Yes
WisconsinS4Yes
GeorgiaSUYes
West VirginiaS3Yes
NebraskaSUYes
North CarolinaSNRYes
KansasS4Yes
MichiganS5Yes
KentuckyS4Yes
Rhode IslandS1Yes
IllinoisS4Yes
New YorkS4Yes
MinnesotaSNRYes
ConnecticutS3Yes
MissouriS4Yes
CanadaN4
ProvinceRankNative
ManitobaS3Yes
New BrunswickS3Yes
Nova ScotiaS3Yes
QuebecS4Yes
OntarioS4Yes
Roadless Areas (2)
Wisconsin (2)
AreaForestAcres
09161 - Gates LakeChequamegon-Nicolet National Forest5,255
09162 - MooseChequamegon-Nicolet National Forest6,161
References (33)
  1. American Society of Mammalogists (ASM). 2024. The Mammal Diversity Database (MDD). Online. Available: www.mammaldiversity.org
  2. Baker, R. H. 1983. Michigan mammals. Michigan State University Press. 642 pp.
  3. Banfield, A. W. F. 1974. The mammals of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada. 438 pp.
  4. Banks, E. M., R. J. Brooks, and J. Schnell. 1975. A radiotracking study of home range and activity of the brown lemming (<i>Lemmus trimucronatus</i>). Journal of Mammalogy 56:888-901.
  5. Bowman, J. C., M. Edwards, L. S. Sheppard, and G. J. Forbes. 1999. Record distance for a non-homing movement by a deer mouse, <i>Peromyscus maniculatus</i>. Canadian Field-Naturalist 113:292-293.
  6. Brooks, R. J., and E. M. Banks. 1971. Radio-tracking study of lemming home range. Communications in Behavioral Biology 6:1-5.
  7. Castleberry, S., B., T. L. King, P. B. Wood, and W. M. Ford. 2002. Microsatellite DNA analysis of population structure in Allegheny woodrats (<i>Neotoma magister</i>). Journal of Mammalogy 83:1058-1070.
  8. Clark, B. K., and D. W. Kaufman. 1990. Short-term responses of small mammals to experimental fire in tallgrass prairie. Can. J. Zool. 68:2450-2454.
  9. Conner, P. F. 1959. The bog lemming <i>Synaptomys cooperi</i> in southern New Jersey. Publ. Mus. Michigan State Univ., Biol. Ser. 1(5):161-248.
  10. Douglass, R. J. 1977. Population dynamics, home ranges, and habitat associations of the yellow-cheeked vole, <i>Microtus xanthognathus</i>, in the Northwest Territories. Canadian Field-Naturalist 91:237-47.
  11. Garland, T., Jr. and W. G. Bradley. 1984. Effects of a highway on Mojave Desert rodent populations. American Midland Naturalist 111:47-56.
  12. Godin, A. J. 1977. Wild mammals of New England. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. 304 pp.
  13. Hall, E. R. 1981a. The Mammals of North America, second edition. Vols. I &amp; II. John Wiley &amp; Sons, New York, New York. 1181 pp.
  14. Hamilton, W. J., Jr., and J. O. Whitaker, Jr. 1979. Mammals of the eastern United States. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, New York. 346 pp.
  15. Handley, C. O., Jr. 1991. Mammals. Pages 539-616 in K. Terwilliger, coordinator. Virginia's endangered species: proceedings of a symposium. McDonald and Woodward Publishing Company, Blacksburg, Virginia.
  16. Hebda, A.J. 2011. List of mammals of Nova Scotia (including synonyms used in the literature relating to Nova Scotia) (revision 2) 24 July 2011. Nova Scotia Museum Collections Unit, Halifax, Nova Scotia. 24 pp. Online. Available: https://naturalhistory.novascotia.ca/sites/default/files/inline/images/names_and_synonyms_ver3.pdf
  17. Howell, A. H. 1927. Revision of the American lemming mice (genus <i>Synaptomys</i>). North American Fauna 50:1-38.
  18. Jike, L., G. O. Batzli, L. L. Geta. 1988. Home ranges of prairie voles as determined by radiotracking and by powdertracking. Journal of Mammalogy 69:183-186.
  19. Krohne, D. T., and G. A. Hoch. 1999. Demography of <i>Peromyscus leucopus</i> populations on habitat patches: the role of dispersal. Canadian Journal of Zoology 77:1247-1253.
  20. Krupa, J. J., and K. E. Haskins. 1996. Invasion of the meadow vole (<i>Microtus pennsylvanicus</i>) in southeastern Kentucky and its possible impact on the southern bog lemming (<i>Synaptomys cooperi</i>). American Midland Naturalist 135:14-22.
  21. Linzey, A.V. 1981. Patterns of coexistence in <i>Microtus pennsylvanicus</i> and <i>Synaptomys cooperi</i>. Virginia Poly. Inst.and State Univ., unpubl. Ph.D. dissertation, 97 pp.
  22. Linzey, A.V. 1983. <i>Synaptomys cooperi</i>. Mammalian Species. American Soc. of Mammalogists 210:1-5.
  23. Linzey, D.W. 2016. Mammals of Great Smoky Mountains National Park: 2016 revision. Southeastern Naturalist 15(Monograph 8):1–93.
  24. MacMillen, R. E. 1964. Population ecology, water relations and social behavior of a southern California semidesert rodent fauna. University of California Publications in Zoology 71:1-59.
  25. Maier, T. J. 2002. Long-distance movements by female white-footed mice, <i>Peromyscus leucopus</i>, in extensive mixed-wood forest. Canadian Field-Naturalist 116:108-111.
  26. Oxley, D. J., M. B. Fenton and G. R. Carmody. 1974. The effects of roads on populations of small mammals. Journal of Applied Ecology 11: 51-59.
  27. Rehmeier, R. L., G. A. Kaufman, and D. W. Kaufman. 2004. Long-distance movements of the deer mouse in tallgrass prairie. Journal of Mammalogy 85:562-568.
  28. Schwartz, C. W., and E. R. Schwartz. 1981. The wild mammals of Missouri. University of Missouri Press, Columbia. 356 pp.
  29. Smith, M. H. 1965. Dispersal capacity of the dusky-footed wood rat, <i>Neotoma fuscipes</i>. American Midland Naturalist 74:457-463.
  30. Storer, T. I., F. C. Evans, and F. G. Palmer. 1944. Some rodent populations in the Sierra Nevada of California. Ecological Monographs 14:166-192.
  31. Wilkins, K. T. 1982. Highways as barriers to rodent dispersal. Southwestern Naturalist 27: 459-460.
  32. Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder (editors). 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. xviii + 1206 pp. Available online at: http://www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/.
  33. Wilson, G. M., and J. R. Choate. 1997. Taxonomic status and biogeography of the southern bog lemming, <i>Synaptomys cooperi</i>, on the central Great Plains. Journal of Mammalogy 78:444-458.