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Assemblages of small mammals in North-Central Kansas : historical and ecological implications
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Assemblages of small mammals in North-Central Kansas : historical and ecological implications
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Description
Author
Channell
,
Robert
B
.
Title
Assemblages
of
small
mammals
in
North-Central
Kansas
:
historical
and
ecological
implications
Degree Program
Biology
Abstract
Small
mammals
were
trapped
on
four
habitats
;
cropland
,
roadside
ditch
,
pasture
, and
remnant
grassland
. The
small
mammal
community
of
each
of these
habitats
were
compared
on the
basis
of
richness
,
evenness
,
diversity
, and
similarity
. The
cropland
was
found
to
most
resemble
the
pasture
.
When
richness
,
evenness
, and
diversity
were
comparison
characters
the
ditch
most
resembled
the
remnant
grassland
;
however
,
when
similarity
was the
comparison
character
the
ditch
most
closely
resembled
the
pasture
. The
population
dynamics
,
habitat
preference
;
probable
historical
occurrence
, and
impact
of
human
activities
on
individual
species
were also
examined
. The
only
species
that was
permanent
in
all
four
habitats
was the
deer
mouse
,
Peromyscus
maniculatus
. The
cotton
rat
,
Sigmodon
hispidus
was a
permanent
species
in the
remnant
grassland
and a
semi-permanent
species
in the
ditch
.
Populations
of
S
.
hispidus
showed
dramatic
declines
during
the
drought
that
significantly
altered
community
structures
.
Reithrodontomys
megalotis
,
western
harvest
mouse
, was a
transient
on
all
of the
habitats
but the
remnant
grassland
were
it
was a
permanent
species
. The
western
harvest
mouse
was not
appreciable
affected
by the
drought
. There
is
probably
no
native
prairie
ecosystem
remaining
in
western
Kansas
that
is
reflective
of the
biotic
communities
that were
extant
prior
to the
arrival
of the
European
settlers
. At that
time
this
area
was
inhabited
primarily
by
Arapraho
and
Cheyenne
Indians
with
occasional
incursions
by the
Kaw
,
Pawnee
,
Sioux
,
Kiowa
, and
Comanche
tribes
(Choate
and
Fleharty
,
1975)
as they
exploited
the
vast
herds
of
bison
that
roamed
these
prairies
(Darton
,
1916)
.
After
gold
was
discovered
in
Colorado
, the
Smoky
Hill
Trail
was
established
in
1859
(Choate
and
Fleharty
,
1975)
.
Military
outposts
,
like
Fort
Hays
(founded
in
1865)
, were
established
to
protect
the
ever
increasing
numbers
of
white
settlers
as they
moved
westward
on
wagon
trains
,
stage
lines
, and
eventually
the
railroad
. The
Kansas-Pacific
railroad
reached
Hays
on
16
Oct
.
1867
, and
Hays
City
was
formally
founded
on
23
Nov
.
1868
.
According
to
records
kept
at
Fort
Hays
the
bison
had
disappeared
by
1877
.
Agricultural
experimentation
began
at
Hays
City
in
1867
or
1868
,
when
W
.
E
.
Webb
enclosed
25
acres
with a
board
fence
and, in an
attempt
to
turn
over
five
acres
of
native
grassland
,
ruined
a
number
of
plows
(Hays
Sentinel
,
18
Jan
.
1878)
. By
1870
,
Hays
City
had a
population
of
320
as
did
the
adjacent
Fort
(Walker
,
1872)
. In
1873
and
1874
,
Martin
Allen
planted
a
variety
of
trees
but
grasshoppers
and
drought
killed
them
all
.
Allen
wrote
about
the
hard
surface
of the
ground
,
stating
that
it
“would
shed
rain
,
nearly
equal
to a
shingle
roof”
(Hays
Sentinel
,
8
Aug
.
1879)
.
Richard
Smith
Elliott
sowed
wheat
,
rye
, and
barley
at
Ellis
on
20
Oct
.
1870
and
wrote
“the
work
of
redeeming
the
domain
of the
buffalo
was
begun”
(Elliot
,
1883)
. In
April
1871
,
120
acres
of
grassland
were
turned
over
near
Ellis
by
Dr
.
Louis
Watson
. Of this
100
acres
were
planted
to
corn
and
sorghum
and the
remainder
was
sown
to
wheat
,
barley
, and
rye
in
September
.
Adverse
weather
conditions
along
with an
attack
by
grasshoppers
caused
Dr
.
Watson
to
cease
his
experiment
by the
winter
of
1872
(Watson
,
1872)
.
Louis
Agassiz
from
Harvard
came
to
Hays
on the
Kansas
Pacific
railroad
and
found
the
area
“eminently
adapted
to the
culture
of
wheat.”
He
predicted
that this
area
soon
would be
one
of the
leading
wheat-producing
areas
of the
world
(Hays
Sentinel
,
8
March
1876)
. These
feeble
attempts
at
agriculture
were
only
harbingers
of
things
to
follow
. There was
no
large-scale
agriculture
in
Ellis
County
until
1876
,
when
German-Russian
immigrants
arrived
. By
1877
,
1321
acres
were
planted
to
wheat
and
1310
to
corn
. This
increased
the
following
year
to
4037
acres
of
wheat
and
3226
acres
of
corn
(Hays
Sentinel
,
9
May
1879)
. As
prairies
were
plowed
under
to
serve
as
croplands
,
roads
and
borrow
ditches
were
constructed
, and
small
villages
were
founded
,
native
vegetation
was
impacted
and
small
mammal
assemblages
were
altered
. A
few
remnants
of the
native
prairie
were
“saved”
but by
closing
them to
grazing
and
“protecting”
them from
fire
, these
too
were
altered
. The
remaining
prairie
was
fenced
and
subjected
to
various
intensities
of
grazing
by
domestic
livestock
.
Investigations
in
western
Kansas
have
examined
various
aspects
of
small
mammal
ecology
as they
relate
to these
altered
ecosystems
. These have
included
studies
on the
use
of
fencerows
,
croplands
, and
grazed
lands
(Kaufman
and
Kaufman
,
1989
;
Navo
and
Fleharty
,
1983
;
Fleharty
and
Navo
,
1983
;
Kaufman
and
Kaufman
,
1990b)
,
remnant
prairies
(Fleharty
and
Mares
,
1973
;
Hansen
and
Fleharty
,
1974
;
Choate
and
Fleharty
,
1975
;
Fleharty
,
1972)
, and
riparian
communities
(Fleharty
and
Stadel
,
1968
;
Frydendall
,
1969)
as
small
mammal
habitat
.
Although
these
studies
have
provided
significant
information
on
small
mammal
ecology
,
many
were of
relatively
short
duration
or had
relatively
few
sampling
periods
and were, of
course
not
conducted
under
similar
climatic
regimes
.
Additionally
,
cropland
ecosystems
have not been
studied
systematically
during
a
complete
rotational
cycle
as
often
is
practiced
in
dryland
farming
of
western
Kansas
. The
purpose
of this
study
was to
sample
small
mammal
populations
from
four
ecosystems
that have been
established
under
the
influence
of
human
activities
to
better
understand
1)
the
effects
that these
changes
have had on the
assemblages
of
small
prairie
mammals
, and
2)
the
population
dynamics
of
small
mammals
through
extensive
sampling
in these
“artificial”
ecosystems
under
similar
climatic
regimes
.
Date Original
1992
Publisher
Fort Hays State University
Relation
Digital reproduction of the Fort Hays State University Theses Collection.
Type
Text
Format
application/pdf
Identifier
ChannellRobert_1992_web.pdf
Source
LD2652 .T5 B5 C42 1992
Language
eng
Relation-Requires
Adobe Reader is required to view this item. Download at
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Rights
Copyright 1992 Robert B. Channell
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