Abstract
In a band of semi-arid grasslands and shrublands of the high basins of the American Southwest, one can find impressive numbers of nocturnal rodents. Species are both diverse and abundant in the traps of the rodent ecologist. One family in particular, the Heteromyidae, a family endemic to North America, has particularly rich associations: its members are usually far more abundant than those of all other families combined and it quite often displays three of its species on the same patch of ground (less than 1/5 hectare) at the same time. In fact, associations of four or even five species are not infrequently encountered and there is a report in the literature of six species taken in about 1/2 hectare (Hoffmeister & Goodpaster, 1954). Often, associations of Heteromyidae are joined by various cricetines including members of the genera Peromyscus, Onychomys, Reithrodontomys, Baiomys, Sigmodon and Neotoma.
Dedicated to Robert H. MacArthur for many, many reasons.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bartholomew, G. A. & Caswell, H. H. 1951. Locomotion in Kangaroo rats and its adaptive significance. J. Mamm., 32: 155–159.
Bartholomew, G. A. & MacMillen, R. E. 1961. Oxygen consumption, estivation, and hibernation in the kangaroo mouse, Microdipodops pallidus. Physiol. Zoo., 34: 177–183.
Brown, J. H. & Lieberman, G. A. 1973. Resource utilization and coexistence of seed-eating desert rodents in sand-dune habitats. Ecology, 54: 788–797.
Cohen, J. E. 1968. Alternate derivations of a species-abundance relation. Amer. Natur., 102: 165–172.
Dunham, Marilyn. 1968. A comparative food habit study of two species of kangaroo rats-Dipodomys ordii and D. merriami. MS thesis, Dept. Biology, UNM, Albuquerque.
Emlen, J. M. 1966. The role of time and energy in food preference. Amer. Natur., 100: 611–617.
Hemmingsen, A. M. 1960. Energy metabolism as related to body size and respiratory surfaces, and its evolution. Repts. Steno Memorial Hospital and Nordisk Insulinlab., Gentofte, Denmark, 9 (Part 2), 110 p.
Hensley, M. M. & Cope, J. B. 1951. Further data on removal and repopulation of breeding birds in a spruce-fir forest community. Auk, 68: 483–493.
Hoffmeister, D. & Goodpaster, W. 1954. The mammals of the Huachuca Mountains, southeastern Arizona. Ill. Biol. Monogr., XXIV(l): 1–152.
Hurlbert, S. H. 1971. The nonconcept of species diversity: a critique and alternative parameters. Ecology, 52: 577–586.
Kleiber, M. 1961. The fire of life. Wiley, N.Y., 454 p.
MacArthur, R. H. & Levins, R. 1964. Competition, habitat selection and character displacement in a patchy environment. Pr. Nat. Acad. Sci., USA, 51: 1207–1210.
MacArthur, R. H. & Levins, R. 1967. The limiting similarity, convergence and divergence of coexisting species. Amer. Natur., 101: 377–385.
MacArthur, R. H. & MacArthur, J. 1961. On bird species diversity. Ecology, 42: 594–598.
MacArthur, R. H. & Pianka, E. R. 1966. On optimal use of a patchy environment. Amer. Natur., 100: 603–609.
MacArthur, R. H. & Wilson, E. O. 1967. The theory of island biogeography. Princeton U. Press, Princeton, 203 p.
McNab, B. K. 1963. Bioenergetics and the determination of home range size. Amer. Natur., 67: 133–140.
Pianka, E. R. 1967. On lizard species diversity: North American flatland deserts. Ecology, 48: 333–351.
Pulliam, H. R. & Enders, F. 1971. The feeding ecology of five sympatric finch species. Ecology, 52: 557–566.
Reynolds, H. G. 1950. Relation of Merriam kangaroo rats to range vegetation in southern Arizona. Ecology, 31: 456–463.
Reynolds, H. G. & Haskell, H. S. 1949. Life history notes on Price and Bailey pocket mice of southern Arizona. J. Mamm., 30: 150–156.
Rosenzweig, M. L. 1966. Community structure in sympatric carnivora. J. Mamm., 47: 602–612.
Rosenzweig, M. L. 1973. Habitat selection experiments with a pair of coexisting heteromyid rodent species. Ecology, 54: 111–117.
Rosenzweig, M. L. & Sterner, P. W. 1970. Population ecology of desert rodent communities: body size and seed husking as bases for heteromyid coexistence. Ecology, 51: 217–224.
Rosenzweig, M. L. & Winakur, J. 1969. Population ecology of desert rodent communities: habitats and environmental complexity. Ecology, 50: 558–572.
Schoener, T. W. & Gorman, G. C. 1968. Some niche differences in three Lesser Antillean lizards of the genus Anolis. Ecology, 49: 819–830.
Simberloff, D. S. & Wilson, E. O. 1969. Experimental zoogeography of islands. The colonization of empty islands. Ecology, 50: 278–296.
Smigel, B. W. 1973. Ph.D. Thesis. Dept. Biol. Sci., SUNY at Albany, New York.
Smigel, B. W., Jester, W., Blomgren, J., Prasad, K. N. & Rosenzweig, M. L. 1974. Dietary analysis in granivores through the use of neutron activation analysis. Ecology, 55: 340–349.
Smigel, B. W. & Rosenzweig, M. L. 1974. Seed selection in Dipodomys merriami and Perognathus penicillatus. Ecology, 55: 329–339.
Smith, C. F. 1942. The fall food of brushfield pocket mice. J. Mamm., 23: 337–339.
Sterner, P. W. 1968. Heteromyid husking performance and resource selection strategies. MS thesis, Dept. Biol. Buckneil Univ., Lewisburg, Pa.
Stewart, R. E. & Aldrich, J. W. 1951. Removal and repopulation of breeding birds in a spruce-fir forest community. Auk, 68: 471–482.
Webster, D. B. 1962. A function of the enlarged middle-ear cavities of the kangaroo rat, Dipodomys. Physiol. Zool., 35: 248–255.
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1975 Dr. W. Junk b.v., Publishers, The Hague
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Rosenzweig, M.L., Smigel, B., Kraft, A. (1975). Patterns of Food, Space and Diversity. In: Prakash, I., Ghosh, P.K. (eds) Rodents in Desert Environments. Monographiae Biologicae, vol 28. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-1944-6_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-1944-6_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-1946-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-010-1944-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive