Prairie and Forest Rodent Diversity

Abstract

Minnesota has three biomes; deciduous, coniferous and prairie. Itasca State Park, Located in the NW part of Minnesota has both deciduous and coniferous biomes while being about an hour away from the prairie biome. Each biome has unique vegetation which supports a diversity of rodents. Rodents play an important role in an ecosystem by creating diversity, eating vegetation, and supporting other animals by giving them nutrients. Our study consists of mark recapture methods located in each of the three biomes. Our objective for this study is to compare the biomes in their diversity and amount of individuals. Two questions were asked in this study: (1) Which biome has more species diversity and (2) which biome has more individuals. I hypothesized that the deciduous and coniferous biomes would have more species diversity and individuals because these biomes have more cover to protect the rodents and the forest would provide quality food. In the prairie the rodents would be prone to predators and would have a difficult time finding food.