论文部分内容阅读
Livestock grazing as one of the major human disturbances has been causing problems with respect to both pest impacts and biodiversity losses in the steppe grassland ecosystems of Inner Mongolia.In this study,by using large replicated enclosures which prevented immigration and emigration of rodents and excluded all rodent predators,we investigated the accumulative effects of sheep grazing on the population dynamics of Brandts voles in the steppe grassland of Inner Mongolia,China,between 2010-14.We found the response of vole populations to livestock grazing was not obvious (but with a non-significant positive trend) in the initial years and negative in the following years.The negative effect of grazing was predominantly caused by grazing-induced changes in both food quantity and food quality.Our results provide new insights into impacts of grazing on small rodents in the context of a sheep-plant-rodent system and we call for more flexible management of livestock grazing to optimize livestock production while maintaining species diversity and ecosystem health.