SGS-LTER Long-Term Monitoring Project: Vegetation Structure on Small Mammal Trapping Webs on the Central Plains Experimental Range, Nunn, Colorado, USA 1999 -2006, ARS Study Number 118

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. Resources in this dataset:Resource Title: Website Pointer to html file. File Name: Web Page, url: https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?scope=knb-lter-sgs&identifier=141 Webpage with information and links to data files for download

本数据集由科罗拉多州立大学管理的短期草地长期生态系统研究（SGS-LTER）项目的研究人员制作。短期草地长期生态系统研究（SGS-LTER）项目长期数据集及背景信息（提案、报告、照片等）均收录在科罗拉多州数字收藏馆的综合项目收藏中（http://digitool.library.colostate.edu/R/?func=collections&collection_id=3429）。该数据表及关联的元数据文档，采用生态元数据语言生成，可能通过其他服务于生态研究领域的数据存储库获得，并代表短期草地长期生态系统研究（SGS-LTER）项目收藏的一部分。更多信息和相关材料可查阅：http://hdl.handle.net/10217/83458。短草草甸中小型哺乳动物的丰度和多样性受到植被结构和组成的影响。植被结构为捕食者和恶劣的非生物条件提供庇护。植物物种组成影响可供食种子和草本植物的种类，进而影响昆虫种群，而昆虫种群是短草草甸中占主导地位的杂食性物种的重要猎物。植被结构和植物群落组成均对降水的可用性以及大型食草哺乳动物的活动敏感。1999年，我们开始在三个草地和三个灌木丛捕捉网所在的地区，对植被结构和植物群落组成进行测量，这些地区是我们在其中捕捉小型哺乳动物的地方。植被测量每年进行一次，通常在七月中旬。在每个捕捉网上，通过目测估计了每种植物种类的树冠覆盖率，使用了30个0.10平方米的Daubenmire样方。为了估计生境结构，我们测量了每个样方附近草、草本植物和灌木植物的高度，半灌木、小型哺乳动物土丘和洞穴、采集蚁土丘以及大型灌木和动物土丘的尺寸。本数据集包含的资源：资源标题：指向html文件的网站指针。文件名：网页，网址：https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?scope=knb-lter-sgs&identifier=141 包含信息和数据文件下载链接的网页。