Composition of a small mammal community studied by three comparative methods

Small mammal community composition of a Mediterranean area of central Italy was studied by comparing three different methods: (1) live-trapping, (2) owl pellet analysis and (3) snake gut analysis. All the methods employed provided useful data on both species composition and abundance in the field, although live-trapping and analysis of Tyto alba pellets allowed the detection of the higher number of small mammal species. When live-trapping is used, it seems necessary to place traps in every environmental type available in the study area.