Over two consecutive years, Fehmi and Bartolome evaluated two sites ungrazed by livestock, one dominated by native perennial grasses and another dominated by invasive annuals, to determine the relationship between plant species richness and location of Microtus californicus (California vole) burrow entrances (burrows). Quadrats with burrows averaged significantly more plant species than those without them. Burrows found in 1996 were not correlated with species richness in 1995, suggesting that voles affect richness rather than seek it out. Since voles seem to create a clumped pattern with their burrow entrances, the associated increase in plant species richness may have a strong effect on the overall structure of the plant community. A quantitative comparison of the 2 sites showed that the plant matrix of the perennial site contained flora of the annual site, and this similarity in plant species composition may allow for similar treatment of the 2 types of sites and potentially other California grasslands.
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