干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

The Santa Rita Experimental Range (SRER), established in 1903, is a natural laboratory used to better understand desert grasslands. We reviewed the literature to summarize studies that have been conducted on wildlife at SRER from 1903 to 2002 and to provide recommendations on expanding contemporary research at SRER. Research related to wild vertebrates has been limited to a few studies of reptiles, avifauna, and mammals. Mammalian studies were dominated by rodent research. Peer-reviewed publications dominated the references (n = 45), followed by technical bulletins (n = 12), theses (n = 9) and dissertations (n = 9), conference proceedings (it = 3), reports (n = 3), and other (n = 3). Although research on wildlife has been limited (about 0.8 publications per year) from 1903 to 2002, several works were landmark studies that led the way for future work (for example, water requirement studies, life history studies of small mammals, studies of coyotes, and disease studies). There has not been a concentrated effort to continue wildlife research at SRER, and since 1983, only five manuscripts have been published. We recommend that land managers and administrators initiate inventory and monitoring of all vertebrates on SRER to gather new knowledge, to quantify abundance trends, and to assist with resource research and management.