Effects of a Small Mammalian Herbivore on a Grassland Undergoing Restoration

摘要

This thesis examines the effects of the prairie vole, Microtus ochrogaster, on a grassland undergoing restoration. The study addresses these effects with respect to treatment plots (vole-enhanced enclosures and vole-excluded exclosures) and control plots, which have not had the small mammal community manipulated. This study has also been accepted as a manuscript for publication in the u22Proceedings of the 18th North American Prairie Conference.u221 Two ancillary studies were also conducted. The first, reported in Appendix I, examines the composition and effects on plant community structure by the unmanipulated, small mammal community from the control plots within the area undergoing restoration and an adjacent area not being restored. The second, reported in Appendix II, investigates the effects of white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, on the plant community structure within the area being restored. The study period extends from August through October, 2000 with the exception of the main study, which includes additional data from a second season of sampling conducted June through October in 2001. As regards the 2000 season, data collected after October were not included in the analyses in order to examine the possible effects of prairie voles (and deer) on plant community structure during the primary growing season, however, the data are reported in Appendix III.