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Small mammals as indicators of short-term and long-term disturbance in mixed prairie

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Abstract

Disturbance by military maneuvers over short and long time scales may have differential effects on grassland communities. We assessed small mammals as indicators of disturbance by military maneuvers in a mixed prairie in southern Oklahoma USA. We examined sites on two soil series, Foard and Lawton, across a gradient of disturbance intensity. A MANOVA showed that abundance of small mammals was associated (p=0.03) with short-term (cover of vehicle tracks) disturbance but was not associated (p=0.12) with long-term (loss of soil organic carbon, SOC) disturbance intensity. At the individual species level, Sigmodon hispidus (cotton rat) and Peromyscus maniculatus (deer mouse) occurred across all levels of disturbance and in both soil types. Only P. maniculatus abundance changed (p<0.01) with short-term disturbance and increased by about one individual per 5% of additional track-cover. Abundance of P. maniculatus also increased (p=0.04) by about three individuals per 1% increase in soil carbon. Chaetodipus hispidus (hispid pocket mouse) and Reithrodontomys fulvescens (fulvous harvest mouse) only occurred in single soil types limiting their potential as more general indicators. Abundance of P. maniculatus was positively related to shifts in plant species composition and likely reflected changes in vegetation structure (i.e. litter depth) and forage availability resulting from disturbance. Peromyscus maniculatus may be a useful biological indicator of ecosystem change because it responded predictably to both long-term and short-term disturbance and, when coupled with soil, plant, and disturbance history variables, can reveal land condition trends.

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Author notes

  1. Sherry A. Leis

    Present address: Resource Science, Missouri Department of Conservation, 368, Clinton, MO, 64735, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant and Soil Science, Oklahoma State University, 368 North Agriculture Hall, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA

    Sherry A. Leis & David M. Engle

  2. United States Geological Survey, Oklahoma Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University, 404 Life Science West, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA

    David M. Leslie Jr.

  3. School of Natural Resources BSE 325, University of Arizona, PO Box 210043, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    Jeffrey S. Fehmi

Authors
  1. Sherry A. Leis
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  2. David M. Leslie Jr.
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  3. David M. Engle
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  4. Jeffrey S. Fehmi
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Correspondence to Sherry A. Leis.

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Leis, S.A., Leslie, D.M., Engle, D.M. et al. Small mammals as indicators of short-term and long-term disturbance in mixed prairie. Environ Monit Assess 137, 75–84 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-007-9730-2

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