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This data package was produced by researchers working on the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term Ecological Research (SGS-LTER) Project, administered at Colorado State University. Long-term datasets and background information (proposals, reports, photographs, etc.) on the SGS-LTER project are contained in a comprehensive project collection within the Digital Collections of Colorado (http://digitool.library.colostate.edu/R/?func=collections&collection_id=3429). The data table and associated metadata document, which is generated in Ecological Metadata Language, may be available through other repositories serving the ecological research community and represent components of the larger SGS-LTER project collection. Additional information and referenced materials can be found: http://hdl.handle.net/10217/83448. Rabbits are the most important small-mammal herbivores in shortgrass steppe, and may significant influence the physiognomy and population dynamics of herbaceous plants and woody shrubs. Rabbits also are the most important prey of mammalian carnivores such as coyotes and large raptors such as golden eagles and great horned owls. Two hares (Lepus californicus, L. townsendii) and one cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus audubonii) occur in shortgrass steppe. In 1994, we initiated long-term studies to track changes in relative abundance of rabbits on the Central Plains Experimental Range (CPER). On four nights each year (one night each season, usually on new moon nights in January, April, July, October), we drove a 32-km route consisting of pasture two-track and gravel roads on the CPER. This was the same route as that driven for carnivore scat counts. Surveys began at twilight. Observers with two spotlights sat in the back of a 4WD pick-up driven at <15 mph. We recorded the perpendicular distance (in m) to each rabbit using a meter tape or range finder; the direction of the rabbit relative to the road; and noted if individuals were solitary or in clusters. We also recorded any carnivores or other animals seen during spotlight surveys. Beginning in Spring 1998, we recorded the vegetation type (habitat) and topographic position of each rabbit seen, as well as position relative to human features, eg windmills, cattle guards, on the landscape. We used the number of rabbits of each species spotted per km of route as an index of relative abundance. We used line-transect approaches in DISTANCE to estimate population densities from perpendicular distance data.
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This data package was produced by researchers working on the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term Ecological Research (SGS-LTER) Project, administered at Colorado State University. Long-term datasets and background information (proposals, reports, photographs, etc.) on the SGS-LTER project are contained in a comprehensive project collection within the Digital Collections of Colorado (http://digitool.library.colostate.edu/R/?func=collections&collection_id=3429). The data table and associated metadata document, which is generated in Ecological Metadata Language, may be available through other repositories serving the ecological research community and represent components of the larger SGS-LTER project collection.
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This data package was produced by researchers working on the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term Ecological Research (SGS-LTER) Project, administered at Colorado State University. Long-term datasets and background information (proposals, reports, photographs, etc.) on the SGS-LTER project are contained in a comprehensive project collection within the Digital Collections of Colorado (http://digitool.library.colostate.edu/R/?func=collections&collection_id=3429). The data table and associated metadata document, which is generated in Ecological Metadata Language, may be available through other repositories serving the ecological research community and represent components of the larger SGS-LTER project collection. Additional information and referenced materials can be found: http://hdl.handle.net/10217/83452. Body size is a fundamental biological measurement that is known to be related to an organism's physiology, life-history and ecology. Estimates of body size are also widely used in comparative evolutionary and ecological studies, including food web and diet studies that require estimates of biomass. Beginning in 1994, small mammals are live-trapped twice each year on the three grassland and three shrubland trapping webs. Individuals are weighed (to nearest 0.5 g using a Pesola spring scale) when first captured during a given trapping session but not upon recapture during the same session. Weights are calculated by subtracting the weight of an empty capture (ziploc) bag from the weight of animal in the bag. Individuals are classified into age classes (adult, subadult, juvenile) in the field based on a combination of size and pelage characteristics. This dataset gives means, standard deviations, minimum and maximum values for body weight, in grams, of small mammals captured between September 1994 and September 2008. All sites and sampling periods were combined. Most individuals (~93%) were classified as new captures, although a few individuals that were captured multiple times across different trapping sessions may appear in the dataset more than once. Values may differ from estimates calculated using the entire capture dataset because age and weight data were screened more closely to omit obvious errors and outliers.
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This data package was produced by researchers working on the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term Ecological Research (SGS-LTER) Project, administered at Colorado State University. Long-term datasets and background information (proposals, reports, photographs, etc.) on the SGS-LTER project are contained in a comprehensive project collection within the Digital Collections of Colorado (http://digitool.library.colostate.edu/R/?func=collections&collection_id=3429). The data table and associated metadata document, which is generated in Ecological Metadata Language, may be available through other repositories serving the ecological research community and represent components of the larger SGS-LTER project collection. Additional information and referenced materials can be found: http://hdl.handle.net/10217/83452. Small mammals (rabbits, rodents) are integral components of semiarid ecosystems because of their roles as consumers of plants, seeds and arthropods, as soil disturbance agents, and as food for raptors, snakes and mammalian carnivores. Because of their vagility and intermediate trophic position, populations of small mammals may track changes in vegetation and the abiotic environment that may result from shifts in land-use and other anthropogenic disturbances. However, these populations are variable over space and time, and their response to environmental changes may not be immediately apparent given their behavioral flexibility and relatively long life-spans and generation times. Patterns in the distribution and abundance of small mammals thus may simultaneously reflect and affect the stability of the shortgrass-steppe ecosystem. Long-term studies of population and community dynamics therefore are needed to fully understand the role of small mammals in grassland ecosystems. In 1994, we implemented a sampling scheme to monitor long-term changes in relative abundance of small mammals in representative habitats of shortgrass steppe. We live-trapped nocturnal rodents twice each year (spring, late summer) on trapping webs in upland prairie (GRASS) and saltbush-dominated (SHRUB) habitats. Three 3.14-ha webs were established in each habitat. Each web had 124 Sherman traps, which were spaced 10-m apart on 12 100-m spokes, with 30 degrees between spokes. Four traps were set in the center of the web. Traps were set for four consecutive nights in each trapping session. Traps are baited with a mix of peanut butter and oats, set in the evening and checked (and closed) at dawn. We recorded sex, age and weight upon first capture of all individuals. In the early years of the study, individuals were batch-marked (Sharpie colored felt markers) to distinguish recaptures from new individuals, providing the minimum information necessary to use distance-sampling methods to estimate density. Most nocturnal species are now usually marked with aluminum ear tags, although we continue to mark very small (pocket mice) or small-eared (voles) species only with felt pens. For ear-tagged animals, we distinguish new captures (N) from individuals marked during previous sessions (old, O), versus those that are recaptured (R) on 2nd, 3rd or 4th nights of a trapping session. The location of one trapping web was changed from 13NE (1994-1997) to 13SW (1998- present) because of concerns about intensive cattle use in the pasture, as well as activity of CPER Site Manager’s cats.
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This data package was produced by researchers working on the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term Ecological Research (SGS-LTER) Project, administered at Colorado State University. Long-term datasets and background information (proposals, reports, photographs, etc.) on the SGS-LTER project are contained in a comprehensive project collection within the Digital Collections of Colorado (http://digitool.library.colostate.edu/R/?func=collections&collection_id=3429). The data table and associated metadata document, which is generated in Ecological Metadata Language, may be available through other repositories serving the ecological research community and represent components of the larger SGS-LTER project collection. Additional information and referenced materials can be found: http://hdl.handle.net/10217/83450. With the exception of heteromyids, eg kangaroo rats and pocket mice, most small rodents in shortgrass steppe are omnivorous. Depending on season, arthropods (insects and arachnids) make up 40-85% of the diet of grasshopper mice and thirteen-lined ground squirrels, the most widespread rodents in northern shortgrass steppe. Small mammals are among the most important predators of ground-dwelling macroarthropods and herbivorous insects provide a direct resource link between weather and plant production. Understanding temporal variability in the abundance of arthropods is central to determining the mechanisms that drive small rodent populations. At present, there are no long-term studies of arthropods in shortgrass steppe, despite the important role that these taxa play in grassland food webs. Beginning in 1998, we implemented field protocols to track changes in relative abundance of terrestrial macroarthropods in grassland and shrub-dominated habitats of shortgrass steppe. Sampling was conducted on the six trapping webs (three upland prairie, three lowland saltbush) where we studied rodent populations, and was conducted approximately monthly from May-September (4-5 sessions/year). Ground-dwelling macroarthropods were sampled on each web using pitfall traps, set in one four-by-five grid, with 10 m between traps. Traps consisted of plastic cups (90-mm diameter, 120 mm deep), including a plastic funnel (90-mm diameter), buried flush with the ground surface. Traps were shaded with wooden covers held in place with nails; traps could be closed when not operational by nailing the cover flush to the ground. Traps were usually open for 4 consecutive days (ie 80 trap-days) during a trapping session. On the 4th day, captured arthropods were removed from the traps, identified and released. All arthropods were identified to the ordinal level; beetles (Coleoptera), crickets (Orthoptera), true bugs (Hemiptera) and spiders were identified to the familial level; and a few taxa, eg tenebrionid beetles, were identified to species. We also recorded any reptiles and amphibians captured. The number of individuals of each taxa captured per 100 trap-days was used as an index of relative abundance, with adjustments made for traps that were flooded or disturbed by cattle or for changes to the number of days that traps were open (range 4-7 days). We sampled grasshoppers by counting the numbers flushed from 0.78-m2 circular plots (hoops) placed on each web. Hoops were set out on the day that pitfall traps were opened and were surveyed on the day that traps were closed. A technician used a wooden lath to flush and count all grasshoppers from each hoop. Grasshoppers were not identified to species. Surveys were conducted in 1998, then were discontinued until 2002. In 1998 and from 2002-2005, nine hoops were sampled on each web. Beginning in 2006, we sampled a total of 20 hoops on each web.
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This data package was produced by researchers working on the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term Ecological Research (SGS-LTER) Project, administered at Colorado State University. Long-term datasets and background information (proposals, reports, photographs, etc.) on the SGS-LTER project are contained in a comprehensive project collection within the Digital Collections of Colorado (http://digitool.library.colostate.edu/R/?func=collections&collection_id=3429). The data table and associated metadata document, which is generated in Ecological Metadata Language, may be available through other repositories serving the ecological research community and represent components of the larger SGS-LTER project collection. Additional information and referenced materials can be found: http://hdl.handle.net/10217/83456. Small mammals (rabbits, rodents) are integral components of semiarid ecosystems because of their roles as consumers of plants, seeds and arthropods, as soil disturbance agents, and as food for raptors, snakes and mammalian carnivores. Because of their vagility and intermediate trophic position, populations of small mammals may track changes in vegetation and the abiotic environment that may result from shifts in land-use and other anthropogenic disturbances. However, these populations are variable over space and time, and their response to environmental changes may not be immediately apparent given their behavioral flexibility and relatively long life-spans and generation times. Patterns in the distribution and abundance of small mammals thus may simultaneously reflect and affect the stability of the shortgrass-steppe ecosystem. Long-term studies of population and community dynamics therefore are needed to fully understand the role of small mammals in grassland ecosystems. Thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus, SPTR) are the most widely distributed rodent species in shortgrass steppe and the most important in terms of abundance and biomass. Like most rodents in shortgrass steppe, they are omnivorous; unlike other species, however, they are diurnal and active aboveground only 5-6 months each year, and therefore required a separate sampling scheme from other rodents. In 1999, we initiated studies to track long-term changes in relative abundance of ground squirrels in representative habitats of shortgrass steppe. We live-trapped squirrels twice each year, which corresponded to periods of high aboveground activity of adults (early June, SPR) and the emergence of juveniles (mid-July, SUM). Three 3.14-ha webs were established in upland prairie (GRASS) and saltbush-dominated (SHRUB) habitats. Each web had 62 Sherman traps, which were spaced 20-m apart on 12 100-m spokes, with 30 degrees between spokes. Two traps were set in the center of the web. Traps were set for four consecutive mornings in each trapping session. Traps were baited with a mix of peanut butter and oats, set at dawn and closed 4-6 hours later. Traps were shaded with pieces of PVC pipe to reduce heat mortality in traps. We recorded sex, age and weight upon first capture of all individuals. Because the ears of squirrels are too small to consistently hold ear tags, all individuals were batch-marked with a colored Sharpie felt marker to distinguish recaptures ® from new (N) individuals, providing the minimum information necessary to use distance-sampling methods to estimate density. NOTE: In this dataset, ages and weights may not correspond well. Weight, combined with sampling date, can be used to better determine age class; contact Paul Stapp for more information.
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This data package was produced by researchers working on the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term Ecological Research (SGS-LTER) Project, administered at Colorado State University. Long-term datasets and background information (proposals, reports, photographs, etc.) on the SGS-LTER project are contained in a comprehensive project collection within the Digital Collections of Colorado (http://digitool.library.colostate.edu/R/?func=collections&collection_id=3429). The data table and associated metadata document, which is generated in Ecological Metadata Language, may be available through other repositories serving the ecological research community and represent components of the larger SGS-LTER project collection. Additional information and referenced materials can be found: http://hdl.handle.net/10217/83458. The abundance and diversity of small mammals in shortgrass steppe is strongly influenced by the structure and composition of vegetation. Vegetation structure provides cover from predators and harsh abiotic conditions. Plant species composition affects the types of seeds and herbaceous material available to granivores and herbivores, and influences arthropod populations, which are important prey for the omnivorous species that dominate in shortgrass steppe. Both vegetation structure and plant community composition are sensitive to the availability of precipitation as well as the activity of large mammalian herbivores. In 1999, we began measuring vegetation structure and plant community composition on the three grassland and three shrubland trapping webs where we live-trap small mammals. Vegetation measurements are made once each year, usually in mid-July. Percent canopy cover of each plant species was estimated visually in 30 0.10-m2 Daubenmire quadrats on each web. To estimate habitat structure, we measured the height of grass, forb and shrub plants adjacent to each quadrat, the density of half-shrubs, small mammal mounds and burrows, harvester ant mounds and the dimensions of large shrubs and animal mounds.
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This data package was produced by researchers working on the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term Ecological Research (SGS-LTER) Project, administered at Colorado State University. Long-term datasets and background information (proposals, reports, photographs, etc.) on the SGS-LTER project are contained in a comprehensive project collection within the Digital Collections of Colorado (http://digitool.library.colostate.edu/R/?func=collections&collection_id=3429). The data table and associated metadata document, which is generated in Ecological Metadata Language, may be available through other repositories serving the ecological research community and represent components of the larger SGS-LTER project collection. Additional information and referenced materials can be found: http://hdl.handle.net/10217/83458. The abundance and diversity of small mammals in shortgrass steppe is strongly influenced by the structure and composition of vegetation. Vegetation structure provides cover from predators and harsh abiotic conditions. Plant species composition affects the types of seeds and herbaceous material available to granivores and herbivores, and influences arthropod populations, which are important prey for the omnivorous species that dominate in shortgrass steppe. Both vegetation structure and plant community composition are sensitive to the availability of precipitation as well as the activity of large mammalian herbivores. In 1999, we began measuring vegetation structure and plant community composition on the three grassland and three shrubland trapping webs where we live-trap small mammals. Vegetation measurements are made once each year, usually in mid-July. Percent canopy cover of each plant species was estimated visually in 30 0.10-m2 Daubenmire quadrats on each web. To estimate habitat structure, we measured the height of grass, forb and shrub plants adjacent to each quadrat, the density of half-shrubs, small mammal mounds and burrows, harvester ant mounds and the dimensions of large shrubs and animal mounds.