Pino Gate Prairie Dog Study: Landscape-scale Grasshopper Plot Data from the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (2000-2002)

Keystone species have large impacts on community and ecosystem properties, and create important ecological interactions with other species. Prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) and banner-tailed kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spectabilis) are considered keystone species of grassland ecosystems, and create a mosaic of unique habitats on the landscape. These habitats are known to attract a number of animal species, but little is known about how they affect arthropod communities. Our research evaluated the keystone roles of prairie dogs and kangaroo rats on arthropods at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in central New Mexico, USA. We evaluated the impacts of these rodents on ground-dwelling arthropod and grasshopper communities in areas where prairie dogs and kangaroo rats co-occurred compared to areas where each rodent species occurred alone. Our results demonstrate that prairie dogs and kangaroo rats have keystone-level impacts on these arthropod communities. Their burrow systems provided important habitats for multiple trophic and taxonomic groups of arthropods, and increased overall arthropod abundance and species richness on the landscape. any arthropods also were attracted to the aboveground habitats around the mounds and across the landscapes where the rodents occurred. Detritivores, predators, ants, grasshoppers, and rare rodent burrow inhabitants showed the strongest responses to prairie dog and kangaroo rat activity. The impacts of prairie dogs and kangaroo rats were unique, and the habitats they created supported different assemblages of arthropods. Where both rodent species occurred together on the landscape, there was greater habitat heterogeneity and increased arthropod diversity.关键种（keystone species）对群落与生态系统属性具有显著影响，并可与其他物种建立重要的生态互作关系。草原犬鼠（Cynomys spp.）与帚尾袋鼠鼠（Dipodomys spectabilis）被认为是草原生态系统的关键种，可在景观层面构建出镶嵌分布的独特生境。已知此类生境可吸引多种动物类群，但目前对其如何影响节肢动物（arthropod）群落的相关研究仍较为匮乏。本研究以美国新墨西哥州中部的塞维利塔国家野生动物保护区为研究区域，评估了草原犬鼠与袋鼠鼠在节肢动物群落中扮演的关键角色。研究对比了两类啮齿动物共存区域与单一种类啮齿动物分布区域的差异，以探究这些啮齿动物对地表节肢动物与蝗虫群落的影响。研究结果表明，草原犬鼠与袋鼠鼠对节肢动物群落具有关键种级别的调控作用：它们的洞穴系统为多个营养类群与分类类群的节肢动物提供了关键栖息生境，并提升了区域内节肢动物的总丰度与物种丰富度。诸多节肢动物同样会被鼠丘周边的地上生境以及啮齿动物分布的整个景观区域所吸引。食腐动物、捕食者、蚂蚁、蝗虫以及稀有的洞穴栖息啮齿动物类群，对草原犬鼠与袋鼠鼠的活动表现出最为显著的响应。草原犬鼠与袋鼠鼠的影响各具特异性，它们所构建的生境可支撑不同的节肢动物类群组合。当两类啮齿动物在景观中共存时，区域生境异质性更高，节肢动物多样性也随之提升。