Ballinger and Jones assessed the effects that the absence of grazing can have on three lizard species on the Arapaho Prairie of Nebraska. Cattle were excluded from the study area in 1979 and rapid rate of plant growth, especially grass, has been documented. Sceloporus and Holbrookia lizards require large amounts of open space for feeding and thermoregulation. The large influx of dense grasses took away a lot of the habitat for these species, and consequently, their population numbers have dropped steadily since the removal of cattle. The third species, Cnemidophorus, is thought to require less open ground than either Holbrookia or Sceloporus, but it was most abundant in dense patches surrounded by open ground than in the vast areas of dense of vegetation. The authors believe that these species of lizard have evolved with disturbance caused by drought, fire and especially large herbivore grazing.
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