4.2 Article

Richardson's ground squirrels (Urocitellus richardsonii) are associated primarily with intermediate levels of grassland, clay loam soils, and human development in Canadian mixed-grass prairies

期刊

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY
卷 99, 期 10, 页码 867-875

出版社

CANADIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING
DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2021-0059

关键词

burrowing mammal; cropland; grassland; habitat use; prairie; Richardson's ground squirrel; Urocitellus richardsonii

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资金

  1. University of Regina Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research
  2. Royal Saskatchewan Museum
  3. Friends of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum
  4. University of Alberta, Environment and Climate Change Canada
  5. Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
  6. Canada Research Chairs program
  7. Canada Foundation for Innovation
  8. Fish and Wildlife Development
  9. Science and Innovation Funds of the Province of Saskatchewan
  10. Golden Key International Honour Society
  11. Nature Regina

向作者/读者索取更多资源

This study found that Richardson's ground squirrels were most likely to occur in areas with moderate amounts of grassland (approximately 30%), areas developed by humans (>30%), and a high proportion of clay loam soils, presumably for burrowing. This highlights the importance of heterogeneous landscapes and suggests that areas disturbed by humans may provide suitable vegetation structure for ground squirrels.
Richardson's ground squirrel (Urocitellus richardsonii (Sabine, 1822)) is a widespread burrowing mammal on the northern Great Plains. This species is a prominent prey item for a variety of predators and its burrows provide important habitat for other wildlife; however, Richardson's ground squirrel is also considered an economically damaging agricultural pest. Despite the ecological importance of Richardson's ground squirrels and their status as pests, there are gaps in our knowledge about large- scale habitat associations for this species. In 2011 and 2012, we conducted 1840 roadside surveys in a 130 000 km(2) area of southern Saskatchewan, Canada, to understand which habitat features are associated with Richardson's ground squirrel occurrence. Ground squirrels were observed on 8% of the surveys. Probability of ground squirrel occurrence was highest in areas with moderate amounts of grassland (approximately 30%), areas that were developed by humans (>30%), and had a high proportion of clay loam soils, presumably for burrowing. Our study highlights the importance of heterogeneous landscapes and that areas disturbed by humans may provide suitable vegetation structure for ground squirrels. This information can help to identify important habitat for species that rely on Richardson's ground squirrels and identify areas where Richardson's ground squirrels could come into conflict with agriculture.

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