Mellado et al. looked at the dietary preferences of three small ruminants on a northeastern Mexican grassland. Sheep and prairie dogs had the most overlap of diets with their preference of graminoid species. Goats had the least overlap with any other species, due to their preference of browse species. With the condition of the rangeland and the history of overgrazing, sheep and prairie dogs showed the highest possibility of competition, mainly during the winter. The authors believed that these two species were, in fact, competing for resources since the prairie dog diet switched heavily to forbs in the winter.
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