Cheatgrass, Mammals, Birds, Butterflies, and Wildfire: A Study of Ecosystem Interactions

Understanding the impacts of cheatgrass (*Bromus tectorum*), an invasive annual grass, on mammal, bird, and butterfly populations is vital for wildlife habitat conservation, especially as cheatgrass continues to spread across the western United States. The impact of cheatgrass on most wildlife populations and their distributions has not been adequately studied. In this dataset, we explore the effects of cheatgrass on wildlife habitat quality in the Rocky Mountain foothills in central Colorado during 2020 and 2021. We used a combination of remote-triggering cameras, point counts, and transect counts to quantify numbers of mammals, birds, and butterflies (respectively) on eight 75m radius circular plots varying in cheatgrass cover. Cheatgrass cover was quantified during each research season using a radial point-intercept method. In late 2020 the Calwood fire burned part of the research area, allowing us to investigate the impact of wildfire on cheatgrass.