SGS-LTER Long-term Monitoring Project: Spotlight Rabbit Count on the Central Plains Experimental Range, Nunn, Colorado, USA 1994-2006, ARS Study Number 98

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 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=136 Webpage with information and links to data files for download

此数据包由从事短草草原长期生态研究（SGS-LTER）项目的研究人员制作，该项目由科罗拉多州立大学管理。关于SGS-LTER项目的长期数据集和背景信息（提案、报告、照片等）均包含在科罗拉多州数字收藏馆的综合性项目收藏中（http://digitool.library.colostate.edu/R/?func=collections&collection_id=3429）。生态元语言生成的数据表和相关元数据文档可能通过服务于生态研究社区的其它存储库获得，并代表SGS-LTER项目收藏库的组成部分。更多信息及参考文献可查阅：http://hdl.handle.net/10217/83448。在短草草原中，兔子是最重要的中小型哺乳动物食草动物，可能对草本植物和木本灌木的形态和种群动态产生显著影响。兔子也是哺乳动物食肉动物，如狼和大型猛禽，如金雕和角鹰的最重要的猎物。短草草原中存在两种野兔（Lepus californicus, L. townsendii）和一种棉尾兔（Sylvilagus audubonii）。1994年，我们启动了长期研究，以追踪中央平原实验站（CPER）上兔子相对丰度的变化。每年在四个夜晚（每个季节一夜，通常在一月、四月、七月、十月的月圆之夜）进行调查。我们驾驶一辆32公里的路线，该路线由CPER的牧场小道和砾石路组成。这是与食肉动物粪便计数相同的路线。调查在黄昏时开始。两名观察者坐在一辆四驱皮卡的后部，使用两盏探照灯进行观察。本数据集中包含的资源：资源标题：网站指向HTML文件。文件名：网页，URL：https://portal.edirepository.org/nis/mapbrowse?scope=knb-lter-sgs&identifier=136 网页包含信息和链接到数据文件的下载链接。