Changes in rodent community structure in the Chihuahuan Desert Mexico: comparisons between two habitats [An article from: Journal of Arid Environments]

This digital document is a journal article from Journal of Arid Environments, published by Elsevier in 2005. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
From 1996 to 2001, we conducted a study of two adjacent rodent communities in the Mapimi Basin of the Chihuahuan desert in Mexico. The objective was to test the resource level hypothesis in explaining differences in two contrasting but spatially close habitats: a tobosa grassland area (Hilaria mutica) and a mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa)-creosote (Larrea tridentata)-prickly pear (Opuntia rastrera) shrubland. Based on the inherent differences in the two habitats, we made the following predictions relative to the resource level hypothesis: (1) shrublands should have higher inherent density, diversity, and richness of small mammals than grasslands; (2) annual and seasonal changes in density, diversity, richness, and community composition should be more pronounced in grassland than in shrubland. Concerning the first set of predictions, rodent density was higher in the shrubland (17.7+/-1.1ind/ha) than the grassland (5.8+/-0.7ind/ha; F"1","4"8=292.2, p=