The effects of grazing management on small mammal density and diversity in Nebraska sandhills.

Introduction: Strong relationships exist between vegetative structure and composition of grassland and the animal composition in terms of density and diversity (MacArthur 1961, Wiens 1973). Recent investigations of grassland habitat management and its effect on the avifauna, indicate that the primary mechanism of habitat alteration of a mixed or short grass prairie is grazing (Owens and Myres 1973; Balda 1975; Wiens and Dyer 1975)