Effects of Tracking by Armored vehicles on Townsend's Ground Squirrels in the Orchard Training Area, Idaho, USA

摘要

Maintaining raptor populations is a primary objective of the legislation that designates the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation area. Army training ac- Tivities could influence habirtat quality for raptors by chang- Ing the density, productivity, orbehavior of their Townsend's Ground squirrel (Spermophilus townsendii) prey. These Changes could occur directly or as a result of changes in the Vegetation available as food and cover for the grond squir- Rels. We assessed the effects of long-term tracking by ar- Mored vehicles by comparing 9-ha areas in sagebrush (Ar- Temisia tridentata)-dominated shrubsteppe and bluegrass (poa Secunda)-dominated grasslands subjected to low- intensity tracking for - 50years with others that had not been tracked.