Ecological disturbance in a sandhills prairie: impact and importance to the lizard community on Arapaho Prairie in western Nebraska
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Authors: R. E. Ballinger, and S. M. Jones
Date: 1985
Journal: Prairie Naturalist
Volume: 17
Number: 2
Pages: 91-100
Summary of Methods: The effects of no grazing on three lizard species on the Arapaho Prairie of Nebraska were assessed for one year. After livestock was excluded, rapid plant growth occurred, especially in grasses. Observational data and microhabitat locations of lizards in four different topographic locations and plant communities (ridge, slope, valley, and blowouts) were recorded during June, July, and August a year before and five years after livestock exclusion.
Article Summary / Main Points: A large influx of dense grasses occurred after grazing took away a lot of the habitat for Sceloporus and Holbrookia lizards that require large amounts of open space for feeding and thermoregulation. Consequently, their population numbers dropped steadily since the removal of grazing. Cnemidophorus lizards, believed to require less open ground, were more abundant in dense patches of vegetation surrounded by open ground than in the vast areas of dense vegetation without open ground. These species of lizards seem to have evolved with disturbances caused by drought, fire or grazing.
Vegetation Types: Tallgrass Prairie
MLRA Ecoregions: 65 Nebraska Sand Hills
Agrovoc Control Words: Prairies Grazing Amphibians
Article Review Type: Refereed
Article Type: Documented Case History
Keywords: dense grasses, open habitat, grazing, sceloporus, holbrookia, habitat requirements
Annotation: The results of this one year study are applicable to tall grass prairie. These results illustrate the impacts of removing grazing and other disturbances from the tall grass prairie on lizard communities. Additionally, Ballinger and Watts (1995, Amer. Mid. Nat. 134:413-417) recorded changes in lizard populations affected by ten years of vegetational change on the Arapaho Prairie, Nebraska; also available on the RSIS website.
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