Spatial Association of Shrubs and Their Interrelation to Burrowing Site Preference of Subterranean Rodents on Dune Slope in the Otindag Sandy Land, China

Abstract

Rangelands worldwide have more shrubs now, and subterranean rangeland rodents show close interaction to shrubs when choosing a burrowing site. The study was conducted in Otindag Sandy Land in Inner Mongolia, China with the objective of determining the effects of slope position on spatial pattern and interaction of shrubs; how rodents choose their habitat in different slope; and shrubs and rodents influence each other. To accomplish the objective set, we used three physiographic units: Plot 1 (upper slope), Plot 2 (middle slope), and Plot 3 (lower slope), and all individual woody plants and rodent holes in the three plots were mapped. The result of the study showed that: (1) two shrub species show a random distribution trend in all three plots except an aggregated trend only at the smaller scale on the upper slope; (2) the majority of subterranean rodents preferred to select their burrowing sites under the shrub crown, and these selected shrub individuals had generally larger crown length than those unselected individuals. At the same time, the majority of these burrowing sites were located on the lower right direction. (3) The distribution of rodents holes differ across the slopes in the study area. In the three samples, the relative locations of burrowing sites to shrubs are mostly distributed down slope of shrubs. From upper slope to lower slope, this trend gradually enhanced. Our conclusion is that the increase in shrubs represents a pioneer phase in the rehabilitation of degraded sandy land ecosystems, and colonization of subterranean rangeland rodents near the shrubs is a clear indicator of stabilization of sand dunes.

Spatial Pattern and Population Structure of Artemisia ordosica Shrub in a Desert Grassland under Enclosure, Northwest China

“…The univariate spatial autocorrelation and intraspecific spatial correlation of different age groups were analyzed at multiple scales by the pair-correlation function g (r) instead of the commonly used Ripley’s K-function in this study. The g-function, which is related to the derivative of the K-function, is more sensitive to small-scale effects in comparison with K-function [ 67 , 68 , 69 ]. The formula of function g (r) is as follows [ 39 , 70 ]: where A represents the plot area, n is the total plants number, and w ij means a weighting factor correcting for edge effects.…”

Effects of nitrogen addition and mowing on rodent damage in an Inner Mongolian steppe

“…Grassland rodents, including voles, zokors, pikas, marmots, rabbits, and ground squirrels, play an important role in affecting ecosystem structure and function (Davidson et al., ; Jiang, Wang, Li, Shi, & Yang, ; Olofsson, Tømmervik, & Callaghan, ; Zhang, Zhong, & Fan, ). At moderate densities, rodents aid in maintaining diversity in the grassland, because their extensive excavations promote soil nutrient cycling and seed dispersal (Davidson et al., ); besides, they are a food resource to other animals in higher trophic levels (Delibesmateos, Smith, Slobodchikoff, & Swenson, ; Zhang, Zhang, & Liu, ).…”

Effects of Rodent-mediated Dispersal Limitation on Ridge Regeneration

“…Among the five recorded rodent species, the Apodemus peninsulaewas the most common in the Taihang Mountains, and the midslope and valley had more rodents than ridge. According to the 'landscape of fear' theory, vegetated habitats can provide shelter and improve survival chances for animals, so animals prefer vegetated habitats over open high-risk habitats (Laundre et al , 2001), small rodents were found in greater numbers in forested sparse grassland areas (Afonso, 2021), and nests around shrubs on the slopes could avoid the negative effects of rainfall and uphill runoff on burrows (Jiang et al , 2017). Furthermore, plants generally exhibit better growth in midslope compared to ridge and valley (Liao et al , 2021;Ohsawa & Ide, 2008), and the vertical structure of vegetation distribution on the mountain exhibits a central peak pattern (Lomolino, 2001).…”