Date
3-3-2016
Abstract
Prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) and banner-tailed kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spectabilis) are considered keystone species of grassland ecosystems, and co-occur in the arid grasslands of the southwestern United States and in Mexico. Their keystone status is attributed primarily to the effects of their burrowing and foraging behavior, but they differ ecologically in several important respects. We studied the comparative functional roles of these species where they co-occur at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico, focusing on their impacts on grassland vegetation. We found that vegetation cover, structure, and species richness varied across a gradient extending out from the mound centers, and these patterns differed between prairie dog and kangaroo rat mounds. Certain species and functional groups of plants associated differentially with mounds and landscape patches occupied by prairie dogs and banner-tailed kangaroo rats. Where both species co-occurred locally there was greater soil disturbance, more organic material from their feces, and higher activity of other animals. The overall effect of these rodents was to create a mosaic of different patches across the landscape such that their combined activities increased landscape heterogeneity and plant species richness. Our results demonstrate complementary effects of two co-occurring keystone species on their associated biotic communities.
Handle
http://hdl.handle.net/1928/30018
Other Identifier
SEV193
Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (KNB) Identifier
knb-lter-sev.193.178640
Document Type
Dataset
Rights
Data Policies: This dataset is released to the public and may be freely downloaded. Please keep the designated Contact person informed of any plans to use the dataset. Consultation or collaboration with the original investigators is strongly encouraged. Publications and data products that make use of the dataset must include proper acknowledgement of the Sevilleta LTER. Datasets must be cited as in the example provided. A copy of any publications using these data must be supplied to the Sevilleta LTER Information Manager. By downloading any data you implicitly acknowledge the LTER Data Policy (http://www.lternet.edu/data/netpolicy.html).
Publisher
SEV LTER, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131
Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/fd88974034a95f667ea435515d0fa4a8
Temporal coverage
1999-10-01 - 2002-05-01
Spatial coverage
The study site was located near the base of the Los Pinos mountains and directly adjacent to the nothern fencline of the SNWR at Pino Gate
DOI
doi:10.6073/pasta/fd88974034a95f667ea435515d0fa4a8
Permanent URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/fd88974034a95f667ea435515d0fa4a8
Recommended Citation
Davidson, Ana; Lightfoot, David (2016-03-03): Pino Gate Prairie Dog Study: Landscape-scale Vegetation Plot Data from the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (1999-2002). Long Term Ecological Research Network. http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/fd88974034a95f667ea435515d0fa4a8
Show full metadata
knb-lter-sev.193.178640-provenance.xml (4 kB)
Show provenance metadata
knb-lter-sev.193.178640-report.html (26 kB)
Show original LTER Network Data Portal ingest report
sev193_pdogvegplot_01132009 (230 kB)
Data in TXT format
Comments
This dataset was originally published on the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network Data Portal, https://portal.lternet.edu, and potentially via other repositories or portals as described. The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) of the source data package is doi:10.6073/pasta/fd88974034a95f667ea435515d0fa4a8, and may be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/fd88974034a95f667ea435515d0fa4a8. Metadata and files included in this record mirror as closely as possible the source data and documentation, with the provenance metadata and quality report generated by the LTER portal reproduced here as '*-provenance.xml' and *-report.html' files, respectively.