A review of burrowing by semi-fossorial vertebrates in arid environments

Ecological data bases were searched for citations dealing with burrows, burrowing vertebrates, and the environmental impacts of this phenomenon. Results from this partial search were divided into categories with artificial boundaries depending on the primary focus of the cited paper. These categories were natural history, ecological theory, and the disciplines of geomorphology, pedology, plant ecology, and animal community ecology. Suggested research topics are presented as well as a simple conceptual model of the role of the burrow in the environment.