Effects of Livestock Grazing on Small Mammals at a Desert Cienaga

Abstract

Livestock in arid regions often concentrate their grazing in riparian areas, and this activity can have strong effects on native vegetation and wildlife. Small mammals at a desert wetland (cienaga) in southwestern New Mexico were more abundant on 2 1-ha plots from which livestock were excluded over a 10-year period than on 2 similar grazed plots (P = 0.025). However, species of small mammals differed in the direction and degree of their responses to livestock exclusion. Differences in mean abundance between grazed versus ungrazed plots could not be demonstrated for any species of small mammal individually because of strong annual variation in abundance and low statistical power of tests. However, the cumulative effect was that small mammals were 50% more abundant on plots from which livestock were excluded. Because small mammals provide an important resource base for many animals at higher trophic levels, even a few livestock exclosures of moderate size could benefit a variety of species of wildlife in desert wetlands.