Urban Heat and Desert Wildlife: Rodent Body Condition Across a Gradient of Surface Temperatures in the greater Phoenix, Arizona (USA) metropolitan area (2019-2020)

We live-trapped wild rodents from seven field sites spanning three strata of land-surface temperatures in the Phoenix, Arizona (USA) metropolitan area. We captured 116 adult pocket mice (Chaetodipus spp. and Perognathus spp.) and Merriam’s kangaroo rats (Dipodomys merriami) during 2019 and 2020 from mountainous urban parks and open spaces. Animal body condition was quantified as percent body fat (i.e., fat mass divided by body mass). We used a noninvasive quantitative magnetic resonance instrument to measure body condition.