Understanding terrestrial food webs can help predict how mammalian communities and populations will respond to disturbances such as logging and climate change. 

Ongoing terrestrial vertebrate research at the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest is focused on song birds and small mammals, but not their predators. Despite being relatively abundant and occupying a unique and important position as both predator and prey in the terrestrial food web, small mammalian carnivores are understudied in the Pacific Northwest.

​