Browsing by Author "Sharrow, Matthew"

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    Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches to Study the Effects of Plains Pocket Gopher (Geomys bursarius) Mound building on Vegetation
    (2011-02-09) Hughes, Curtis; Sharrow, Matthew; Etheridge, Robert
    The plains pocket gopher (Geomys bursarius), has been associated with higher levels of plant diversity in grassland areas. In order to test this prediction we conducted vegetative surveys on and off mound areas. We also counted and measured mounds along randomly chosen transects in order to get an idea of the amount of impacted area. Our results further supported this association by demonstrating the effects pocket gophers have on plant diversity. Higher plant diversity was found on or near mound areas versus off.
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    Small Mammal Diversity Comparison Between Different Biomes in North East Minnesota
    (2011-02-09) White, Aaron; Henderson, Corey; Sharrow, Matthew; Anderson, Annika
    This study was conducted to examine small mammal diversity between two separate biomes within Minnesota and see if there are significant differences between areas. Biomes are made up of microhabitats, which creates different types of proffered habitat for different animal species. For example, Peromyscus leucopus selects habitat based on the complexity of the vertical structure (Kaufman et al. 1983). Small mammal sampling grids were set in order to identify the species present and in what proportions. The data will determine which of the two biomes contains a higher diversity and if there are any similarities between the two areas.