Steuter et al. determined the effects of bison (Bos bison) grazing and the diet and distribution of bison and pocket gophers (Geomys bursarius) on sandhills prairie pastures. All pastures were dominated by tall, rhizomatous grasses with some intermixed rhizomatous forbs, however, areas that were grazed by bison also had clumped patches of annual taprooted forbs. This change in plant community structure, which may have resulted from the preferential use of C4 grasses by bison, attracted pocket gophers that preferred to graze the taproots of these annual forbs. Field data indicate that bison and pocket gophers use herbage resources that have distinctly different distributions within the sandhills prairie. The results of this study support the view that bison remain well adapted to native Great Plains grassland fragments of the size studied (~3000 ha), and through interactions with other herbivores and vegetation patterns, will support a diverse landscape.
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