干旱区生态环境知识资源中心(Arid): Rodents' responses to manipulated plant litter and seed densities: implications for restoration

Arid

DOI	10.7717/peerj.9465
	Rodents' responses to manipulated plant litter and seed densities: implications for restoration
	Nicolai, Nancy
通讯作者	Nicolai, N
来源期刊	PEERJ
ISSN	2167-8359
出版年	2020
卷号	8
英文摘要	Rodent populations in arid grasslands do not always track seed production, possibly due to high levels of plant litter. When natural disturbances are suppressed, litter accumulates becoming physically complex, causing rodents to harvest fewer seeds per equivalent time foraging. It also alters security from predation. Restoring natural disturbances may be an important element in conserving rodent communities. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of two levels of plant litter cover and seed densities on nocturnal rodent population characteristics in a semiarid grassland. Specifically, I hypothesized that kangaroo rats, pocket mice, grasshopper mice, and total rodents would be higher in the sparse plant litter treatment than dense litter, whereas deermice would be lower in sparse plots. I further hypothesized that kangaroo rats and deer mice would be higher in the seed augmented treatment compared to the unseeded treatment. A prescribed fire removed litter in four of eight plots prior to sowing native seeds 1 year postfire into two burned and two unburned plots. Rodents were live-trapped during spring and fall 1 year. Sparse litter treatment had higher total rodent abundance, biomass, and frequency of offspring compared to dense plots indicating use of stored seeds. Banner-tailed kangaroo rats had higher abundance, implying reduced predation risk. Pocket mice body mass was greater in dense plots. After winter, seeded plots had higher kangaroo rat body mass and grasshopper mice abundance than unseeded, reflecting the use of stored seeds. These short term results demonstrate litter's physical complexity may be equivalent to seed pulses on the responses of nocturnal rodents. Managers might positively influence grassland rodents by providing a mosaic of varying levels of plant litter.
英文关键词	Small mammal Dipodomys spectabilis Perognathus flavus Onychomys leucogaster Wildlife habitat Grassland Plant litter Food availability
类型	Article
语种	英语
开放获取类型	DOAJ Gold, Green Published
收录类别	SCI-E
WOS记录号	WOS:000545537600003
WOS关键词	SMALL MAMMAL COMMUNITY ; BOTTOM-UP REGULATION ; DESERT-GRASSLAND ; DIPODOMYS-SPECTABILIS ; HETEROMYID RODENT ; POPULATION-DYNAMICS ; SPECIES-DIVERSITY ; MICROHABITAT USE ; NATAL DISPERSAL ; FOOD ADDITION
WOS类目	Multidisciplinary Sciences
WOS研究方向	Science & Technology - Other Topics
资源类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.177/qdio/handle/2XILL650/324928
作者单位	[Nicolai, Nancy] Univ New Mexico, Dept Biol, Albuquerque, NM 87131 USA
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Nicolai, Nancy. Rodents' responses to manipulated plant litter and seed densities: implications for restoration[J],2020,8.
APA	Nicolai, Nancy.(2020).Rodents' responses to manipulated plant litter and seed densities: implications for restoration.PEERJ,8.
MLA	Nicolai, Nancy."Rodents' responses to manipulated plant litter and seed densities: implications for restoration".PEERJ 8(2020).

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