Wildlife as an Indicator of Site Quality and Site Trafficability during Army Training

摘要

Field studies were conducted on four prairies during May-June 1983 on the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site and Fort Carson, CO, to characterize the relationship of soils and vegetation to bird and mammal species composition and abundance. Results strongly suggest that meadowlark numbers increase and horned larks decrease with increasing grass cover, and that kangaroo rats increase and pocket mice decrease with increasing soil sand. Estimating the numbers of each species on various sites on semiarid maneuver lands may be an effective management tool for installation land management. The data can be used to assess the erodibility (relative grass cover) and trafficability (soil texture) of various shortgrass prairie sites.