Tallgrass prairie is among the most threatened ecosystems but is often fragmented and surrounded by human‐modified landscapes. Small mammals are integral components of tallgrass prairies. However, little is known about how landscape composition, configuration, and management impact small mammals in tallgrass prairies. We conducted a systematic literature review to identify species‐specific and community associations with three broad topics: landscape composition, landscape configuration, and management practices. We identified 61 studies that assessed our variables of interest. We categorised the location, species assessed, variables monitored, and results by species and for the community. The majority of studies (64%) were conducted in two states, Illinois and Kansas. Deer mice ( Small mammal biodiversity was positively associated with patchy habitats containing greater diversity in vegetative composition and management regime. Management and land composition were both relatively well studied for several species; habitat configuration was understudied. We identified significant gaps in our understanding of small mammal landscape ecology in tallgrass prairies. With tallgrass prairie restoration a growing trend in this region, a greater understanding of drivers of small mammal populations will be crucial to successful restoration efforts. Future research should focus on understudied areas and species, and examine how habitat heterogeneity impacts small mammal biodiversity.
Despite asymmetric competition and a wide array of functional similarities, two ecologically important C4perennial grasses, While We examined the year‐to‐year consistency of growing season vegetative tiller dynamics (measured as seasonal change in tiller densities) of each grass species from an intact tallgrass prairie in Kansas – a site within the core of both species' distributions – over a period of 8 years. Then, to investigate environmental effects on these dynamics, we examined whether they differ across a Kansas landscape varying in topography, fire management regimes, and the abundances of the study species. Finally, we expanded the investigation of environmental effects on growing season tiller dynamics by observing them at the periphery of the species' distributions in central Colorado, where climatic conditions are dryer and the study species' abundances are reduced.
- Award ID(s):
- 2025849
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10467489
- Publisher / Repository:
- Journal of Ecology
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Ecology
- Volume:
- 111
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 0022-0477
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 676 to 686
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.14055
