Influence of pocket gopher mounds on a Texas coastal prairie
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Authors: S. R. Spencer, G. N. Cameron, B. D. Eshelman, L. C. Cooper, and L. R. Williams
Date: 1985
Journal: Oecologia
Volume: 66
Number: 1
Pages: 111-115
Summary of Methods: Spencer et al. assessed the impacts of pocket gophers (Geomys attwateri) on both burned and unburned grasslands of coastal Texas. Results suggested gopher mounds had a positive effect on vegetation surrounding them in the burned area since samples taken around mounds yielded more dicot biomass than random samples. Thus, while the overall effect of burning was to reduce dicot biomass, gopher mounds appeared to ameliorate this effect since dicot biomass was significantly greater around mounds in the burned area. New mounds in this study were deficient in phosphorus, nitrate, and potassium when compared with soil collected at random since sub soil deposited on the surface has had nutrients both leached from it and drawn from it by plant roots.
Article Summary / Main Points: None
Vegetation Types:
MLRA Ecoregions:
Agrovoc Control Words: Riparian zones Rangelands Wildlife
Article Review Type: Refereed
Article Type: Experimental Research
Keywords: pocket gopher, geomys attwateri, mound building, coastal prairie, biomass, soil nutrient concentration, monocotyledon, dicotyledon
Annotation: None
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