STRUCTURE AND PRODUCTIVITY OF GRASSLAND SMALL MAMMAL COMMUNITIES RELATED TO GRAZING-INDUCED CHANGES IN VEGETATIVE COVER

Small mammal communities in tallgrass and montane grasslands appear more affected by grazing and the subsequent reduction in vegetative cover than do such communities in shortgrass and bunchgrass grasslands. This trend is evident when small mammals in grazed versus ungrazed habitats are compared with regard to mean community biomass, annual community respiration, production, and consumption, mean species diversity and evenness, proportional species and functional group composition, seasonal dynamics of community biomass, and temporal variation in proportional species composition. The general composition of grassland small mammal communities seems to be determined primarily by structural attributes of the habitat. -from Authors

STRUCTURE AND PRODUCTIVITY OF GRASSLAND SMALL MAMMAL COMMUNITIES RELATED TO GRAZING-INDUCED CHANGES IN VEGETATIVE COVER Academic Article