Banner-tailed kangaroo rat burrow mounds and desert grassland habitats

In this study, the density of banner-tailed kangaroo rat (Dipodomys spectabilis) mounds across a range of habitat types near Las Cruces, New Mexico was determined. Mound density varied four-fold between sites. Mound, vegetation and soil characteristics that might explain mound density variation were examined. Mounds influenced vegetation and soil characteristics by altering plant cover, and this effect varied between sites. Mound density, and soil and vegetation characteristics varied substantially between sites, but the two types of variation were not strongly related. Soil particles > -032 mm diameter tended to correlate positively with mound density. Banner-tailed kangaroo rat density, measured as mound density, may be positively associated with abundance of annual grasses and forbs.