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Abstract 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 (Peromyscus maniculatus), prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster), and white‐footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) showed specific associations with landscape variables, with deer mice preferring bare ground and recently burned plots, and prairie voles preferring thatch and negatively associated with prescribed fire. White‐footed mice were frequently associated with wooded areas.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. 

Abstract In the midst of an ongoing biodiversity crisis, much research has focused on species losses and their impacts on ecosystem functioning. The functional consequences (ecosystem response) of shifts in communities are shaped not only by changes in species richness, but also by compositional shifts that result from species losses and gains. Species differ in their contribution to ecosystem functioning, so species identity underlies the consequences of species losses and gains on ecosystem functions. Such research is critical to better predict the impact of disturbances on communities and ecosystems. We used the “Community Assembly and the Functioning of Ecosystems” (CAFE) approach, a modification of the Price equation to understand the functional consequences and relative effects of richness and composition changes in small nonvolant mammal and dung beetle communities as a result of two common disturbances in North American prairie restorations, prescribed fire and the reintroduction of large grazing mammals. Previous research in this system has shown dung beetles are critically important decomposers, while small mammals modulate much energy in prairie food webs. We found that dung beetle communities were more responsive to bison reintroduction and prescribed fires than small nonvolant mammals. Dung beetle richness increased after bison reintroduction, with higher dung beetle community biomass resulting from changes in remaining species (context‐dependent component) rather than species turnover (richness components); prescribed fire caused a minor increase in dung beetle biomass for the same reason. For small mammals, bison reintroduction reduced energy transfer through the loss of species, while prescribed fire had little impact on either small mammal richness or energy transfer. The CAFE approach demonstrates how bison reintroduction controls small nonvolant mammal communities by increasing prairie food web complexity, and increases dung beetle populations with possible benefits for soil health through dung mineralization and soil bioturbation. Prescribed fires, however, have little effect on small mammals and dung beetles, suggesting a resilience to fire. These findings illustrate the key role of re‐establishing historical disturbance regimes when restoring endangered prairie ecosystems and their ecological function.