Burrow webs: Clawing the surface of interactions with burrows excavated by American badgers

Ecosystem engineers are organisms that influence their environment, which includes alteration leading to habitat provisioning for other species. Perhaps the most well examined guild of species provisioning habitat for other species is tree cavity excavators, or woodpeckers (Picidae). Many studies have examined the suite of secondary cavity users that rely on woodpeckers, and how the ecological network of secondary users, collectively referred to as the nest web, changes across communities. Despite similar habitat provisioning processes, fewer studies have assessed the suite of species associated with burrowers providing access to subterranean habitat. Here, we begin to characterize the burrow web provisioned by American badgers (Taxidea taxus) and evaluate the diversity and frequency of species interactions we detected at abandoned badger burrows in Wyoming, USA. We deployed camera-traps at 23 badger burrows and identified interactions with the burrow by birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ov...

生态系统工程师（Ecosystem engineers）是指能够改造自身所处环境的生物，其改造行为可为其他物种提供生境。在为其他物种提供生境的物种功能群中，研究最为深入的当属树洞挖掘者，即啄木鸟科（Picidae）鸟类。已有诸多研究针对依赖啄木鸟的次生洞栖生物类群，以及被统称为"巢网（nest web）"的次生洞栖生物生态网络在不同群落间的变化规律展开了探讨。尽管掘洞生物的生境提供过程与树洞挖掘者类似，但针对与掘洞生物相关、可利用其地下生境的物种类群的研究却相对较少。本研究旨在对美洲獾（Taxidea taxus）所营造的"洞网（burrow web）"进行特征描述，并评估我们在美国怀俄明州废弃獾洞中观测到的鸟类、哺乳类与爬行类物种与该洞穴的交互多样性及发生频率。我们在23处獾洞布设了相机陷阱（camera-traps），并记录了鸟类、哺乳类与爬行类与该洞穴的交互行为。Ov...