naa a22 4500 510744826 CHVBK 20180411083042.0 cr unu---uuuuu 180411e20130101xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s13364-012-0098-5 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s13364-012-0098-5 Influence of vegetation structure on the small mammal community in a shortgrass prairie ecosystem [Elektronische Daten] [Craig Thompson, Eric Gese] The structure of vegetation, and how this structure varies across a landscape, is crucial to understanding the distribution of wildlife species. Between 2002 and 2004, we sampled small mammal communities and measured vegetation structure at 185 locations across a range of disturbance regimes in a shortgrass prairie ecosystem in southeastern Colorado, USA. At each sampling location, the local disturbance regime was some combination of varying intensity of livestock grazing, military training activity, and fire. Vegetation structural characteristics measured included percent bare ground, basal cover, litter, shrub density, and mean grass and shrub height. Rodent communities were described by richness, diversity, total and per capita biomass, and species abundances. Northern grasshopper mice (Onychomys leucogaster), Ord's kangaroo rats (Dipodomys ordii), silky pocket mice (Perognathus flavus), western harvest mice (Reithrodontomys megalotis), white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus), southern plains wood rats (Neotoma micropus), thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus), deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), and spotted ground squirrels (Spermophilus spilosoma) accounted for >99% of all captures. Canonical correlation analysis was used to assess the relationship between small mammals and vegetation structure. The first two canonical variates explained over 50% of the variation in vegetation structure and were related to the ratio of bare ground to basal coverage and litter accumulation. Rodent community indices were most strongly related to litter accumulation and shrub density, though the models had low explanatory power. Our results agreed with published findings regarding microhabitat associations and indicated small mammal communities benefited from a system of interacting disturbances and the resulting landscape mosaic. Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences Białowieża, Poland (outside the USA), 2012 Rodents nationallicence Vegetation structure nationallicence Shortgrass prairie nationallicence Diversity nationallicence Richness nationallicence Small mammals nationallicence Disturbance nationallicence Abundance nationallicence Shrub density nationallicence Thompson Craig Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, 84322-5210, Logan, UT, USA aut Gese Eric U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, 84322-5295, Logan, UT, USA aut Acta Theriologica Springer-Verlag 58/1(2013-01-01), 55-61 0001-7051 58:1<55 2013 58 13364 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-012-0098-5 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-012-0098-5 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Thompson Craig Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, 84322-5210, Logan, UT, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Gese Eric U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University, 84322-5295, Logan, UT, USA aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Acta Theriologica Springer-Verlag 58/1(2013-01-01), 55-61 0001-7051 58:1<55 2013 58 13364 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer