This study addressed the initial effects of a reintroduction of Gunnison's prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni) on resident small mammal and plant communities on the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR), New Mexico. In spring 1997, 60 prairie dogs (36.8 kg live mass) were introduced onto a former prairie dog colony in a desert grassland site. Small mammals and vegetation were sampled on both a treatment (reintroduction site) and a control site (without prairie dogs) before and after the prairie dogs were reintroduced. We tested for differences in small mammal and plant community change during the 1st year of the colony's existence using repeated measures analysis of variance. Although prairie dog biomass was ca. 32 times greater than [...]
