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SGS-LTER Long-Term Monitoring Project: Spermophilus tridecemlineatus on Small Mammal Trapping Webs on the Central Plains Experimental Range, Nunn, Colorado, USA 1999 -2006, ARS Study Number 118

dataset
posted on 2024-02-13, 15:09 authored by Paul Stapp

This data package was produced by researchers working on the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term Ecological Research (SGS-LTER) Project, administered at Colorado State University. Long-term datasets and background information (proposals, reports, photographs, etc.) on the SGS-LTER project are contained in a comprehensive project collection within the Digital Collections of Colorado (http://digitool.library.colostate.edu/R/?func=collections&collection_id=3429). The data table and associated metadata document, which is generated in Ecological Metadata Language, may be available through other repositories serving the ecological research community and represent components of the larger SGS-LTER project collection. Additional information and referenced materials can be found: http://hdl.handle.net/10217/83456. Small mammals (rabbits, rodents) are integral components of semiarid ecosystems because of their roles as consumers of plants, seeds and arthropods, as soil disturbance agents, and as food for raptors, snakes and mammalian carnivores. Because of their vagility and intermediate trophic position, populations of small mammals may track changes in vegetation and the abiotic environment that may result from shifts in land-use and other anthropogenic disturbances. However, these populations are variable over space and time, and their response to environmental changes may not be immediately apparent given their behavioral flexibility and relatively long life-spans and generation times. Patterns in the distribution and abundance of small mammals thus may simultaneously reflect and affect the stability of the shortgrass-steppe ecosystem. Long-term studies of population and community dynamics therefore are needed to fully understand the role of small mammals in grassland ecosystems. Thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus, SPTR) are the most widely distributed rodent species in shortgrass steppe and the most important in terms of abundance and biomass. Like most rodents in shortgrass steppe, they are omnivorous; unlike other species, however, they are diurnal and active aboveground only 5-6 months each year, and therefore required a separate sampling scheme from other rodents. In 1999, we initiated studies to track long-term changes in relative abundance of ground squirrels in representative habitats of shortgrass steppe. We live-trapped squirrels twice each year, which corresponded to periods of high aboveground activity of adults (early June, SPR) and the emergence of juveniles (mid-July, SUM). Three 3.14-ha webs were established in upland prairie (GRASS) and saltbush-dominated (SHRUB) habitats. Each web had 62 Sherman traps, which were spaced 20-m apart on 12 100-m spokes, with 30 degrees between spokes. Two traps were set in the center of the web. Traps were set for four consecutive mornings in each trapping session. Traps were baited with a mix of peanut butter and oats, set at dawn and closed 4-6 hours later. Traps were shaded with pieces of PVC pipe to reduce heat mortality in traps. We recorded sex, age and weight upon first capture of all individuals. Because the ears of squirrels are too small to consistently hold ear tags, all individuals were batch-marked with a colored Sharpie felt marker to distinguish recaptures ® from new (N) individuals, providing the minimum information necessary to use distance-sampling methods to estimate density. NOTE: In this dataset, ages and weights may not correspond well. Weight, combined with sampling date, can be used to better determine age class; contact Paul Stapp for more information.


Resources in this dataset:

Funding

USDA-ARS

National Science Foundation: DEB 1027319

History

Data contact name

Stapp, Paul

Data contact email

pstapp@fullerton.edu

Publisher

Colorado State University

Use limitations

URL for Access Policies http://www.lternet.edu/policies/data-access Data Access Policy Data sets were provided by the Shortgrass Steppe Long Term Ecological Research (SGS-LTER) Program, a partnership between Colorado State University, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, and the U.S. Forest Service Pawnee National Grassland. Significant funding for these data was provided by the National Science Foundation Long Term Ecological Research program (NSF Grant Number DEB-1027319). The SGS-LTER project (1980-2014) was established as one of the first sites in the US LTER Network and has produce a rich legacy of digital materials including reports, proposals, images, and data packages. Data, products and other information produced from the SGS-LTER are curated as a collection within the Digital Collections of Colorado (http://digitool.library.colostate.edu/R/?func=collections&collection_id=3429). Materials can be accessed from the Institutional Digital Repository of Colorado State University or upon request by emailing ecodata_nrel@colostate.edu. All data are open for dissemination and re-use for any purpose, but you must attribute credit to the owner and cite use appropriately according to the LTER Data Access Policy.

Temporal Extent Start Date

1999-06-01

Temporal Extent End Date

2006-07-27

Theme

  • Not specified

Geographic Coverage

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Geographic location - description

The Short Grass Steppe Site Encompasses A Large Portion Of The Colorado Piedmont Section Of The Western Great Plains. The Extent Is Defined As The Boundaries Of The Central Plains Experimental Range (cper). The Cper Has A Single Ownership And Landuse (livestock Grazing). The Png Is Characterized By A Mosaic Of Ownership And Land Use. Ownership Includes Federal, State Or Private And Land Use Consists Of Livestock Grazing Or Row-crops. There Are Ngo Conservation Groups That Exert Influence Over The Area, Particularly On Federal Lands.

ISO Topic Category

  • environment
  • climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere
  • biota
  • farming
  • geoscientificInformation

Ag Data Commons Group

  • Long-Term Agroecosystem Research
  • Central Plains Experimental Range

National Agricultural Library Thesaurus terms

agroecosystems; rangelands; sustainable agricultural intensification

OMB Bureau Code

  • 005:18 - Agricultural Research Service

OMB Program Code

  • 005:040 - National Research

ARS National Program Number

  • 215

Pending citation

  • No

Public Access Level

  • Public

Preferred dataset citation

Stapp, Paul (2013). SGS-LTER Long-Term Monitoring Project: Spermophilus tridecemlineatus on Small Mammal Trapping Webs on the Central Plains Experimental Range, Nunn, Colorado, USA 1999 -2006, ARS Study Number 118. Colorado State University. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/b6c87d5e8dfac44583c9c5e22b4c85e5