Rosenstock examined how small mammal habitat selection is influenced by grazing. Author collected data from two spatial habitat scales, patches and macrohabitats. Responses to grazing were not apparent at the patch scale, including small mammal abundance. Small mammal species richness was 50% greater and species abundance 80% greater on ungrazed macrohabitat plots. In both patch and macrohabitat sites, reproduction and biomass of the small mammals was not affected by rest from grazing. Great Basin pocket mice (Perognathus parvus) and deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) were more profuse on grazed rather than ungrazed patch sites, but more abundant on ungrazed macrohabitat sites. Ord's kangaroo rats (Dipodomys ordii) were more abundant on ungrazed patch plots and were not found in ungrazed macrohabitat plots. The small size and isolation of the ungrazed patches may not have provided adequate suitable habitat to detect a difference in small mammal use and reproductive activity. A greater amount of perennial grass cover and aboveground biomass, providing more food and cover, may be the reason for more small mammal species richness and abundance on ungrazed macrohabitats. On grazed sites, livestock use could have a direct influence on small mammal populations by trampling burrows and compacting the soil.
Citations and enhanced abstracts for journals articles and documents focused on rangeland ecology and management. RSIS is a collaboration between Montana State University, University of Idaho, and University of Wyoming.