Rabbit feces counts on 1m x 1m plots from the long-term Small Mammal Exclosure Study (SMES) at Jornada Basin LTER, 1995-2020

This data package contains rabbit feces count data from plots with
various levels of herbivore exclusion on Jornada Experimental Range
(JER) and Chihuahuan Desert Rangeland Research Center (CDRRC) lands.
Study sites were established in 1995; one in black grama grassland
and the other in creosotebush shrubland to compare the impact of
herbivores on ecosystem processes between these vegetation types.
Parallel studies were established at the Sevilleta LTER site (New
Mexico, USA) and Mapimi Biosphere Reserve (Durango, Mexico). Each
study site is 1 km by 0.5 km in area. Four replicate experimental
blocks were randomly located at the grassland study site to measure
vegetation responses using exclusion treatments including a) all
mammalian herbivores, including cattle, lagomorphs, and rodents, b)
lagomorphs and cattle only, c) cattle only, and d) control
accessible to all herbivores. Because grazing cattle are excluded
from the entire creosote site, only three replicate experimental
blocks were randomly located there including a) all mammalian
herbivores, including lagomorphs, and rodents, b) lagomorphs only,
and c) control accessible to all herbivores. Thirty-six sampling
points were positioned at 5.8-meter intervals on a systematically
located 6 by 6 point grid within each plot. A permanent one-meter by
one-meter vegetation measurement quadrat is located at each of the
36 points. Each year in spring and fall from 1995-2005, the total
number of rabbit feces were counted within each quadrat. After 2005,
sampling frequency channged to every 5 years and data collected
record only presence or absence of feces. This study is ongoing.