Small Mammal Exclosure Study (SMES) Leaf Litter Study in the Chihuahuan Desert Grassland and Shrubland at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico

This dataset was originally published on the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network Data Portal, https://portal.lternet.edu, and potentially via other repositories or portals as described. The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) of the source data package is doi:10.6073/pasta/2f99420037c88c1c751b38ea8f3a91b1, and may be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/2f99420037c88c1c751b38ea8f3a91b1. Metadata and files included in this record mirror as closely as possible the source data and documentation, with the provenance metadata and quality report generated by the LTER portal reproduced here as '*-provenance.xml' and *-report.html' files, respectively.The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not the activities of small mammals regulate plant community structure, plant species diversity, and spatial vegetation patterns in Chihuahuan Desert shrublands and grasslands. What role if any do indigenous small mammal consumers have in maintaining desertified landscapes in the Chihuahuan Desert? Additionally, how do the effects of small mammals interact with changing climate to affect vegetation patterns over time? This is data for cover of dead plant leaf litter accumulations on soil surfaces measured on each of the SMES study plots. Leaf litter cover was measured from each of the 36 one-meter2 quadrats twice each year when vegetation was measured