Coyote Scat Survey in the Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands and Creosote Shrublands at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (1992-2004)

Authors

Robert Parmenter

Date

2-17-2011

Abstract

This study measured the population dynamics of coyotes in the grasslands and creosote shrublands of McKenzie Flats, Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. The study was begun in January, 1992, and continued quarterly each year. Â Coyotes were sampled via scat counts along the roads of McKenzie Flats during winter, spring, summer, and fall of each year. The entire road transect was 21.5 miles in length. Scat counts over a week period (number of scats/mile/day) in each season along the roads were used to calculate the densities of coyotes (number of coyotes per square kilometer). Results from 1992 to 2002 indicated that autumn was the peak density period of the year, with generally steady declines through the year until the following autumn. Coyote populations appeared to fluctuate seasonally, but remained relatively stable at 0.27 +/- 0.03 (SE) coyotes per km2 during summer periods (this likely represents the "breeding pair" density, during which coyote pairs have set up territories and are raising young, but the pups have not as yet joined the parents in foraging activities).

Handle

http://hdl.handle.net/1928/29877

Other Identifier

SEV49

Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (KNB) Identifier

knb-lter-sev.49.130519

Document Type

Dataset

Comments

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/5ce54f1892e39a222bee8ba3fa2885fd, and may be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/5ce54f1892e39a222bee8ba3fa2885fd. 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.

Rights

Data Policies: This dataset is released to the public and may be freely downloaded. Please keep the designated Contact person informed of any plans to use the dataset. Consultation or collaboration with the original investigators is strongly encouraged. Publications and data products that make use of the dataset must include proper acknowledgement of the Sevilleta LTER. Datasets must be cited as in the example provided. A copy of any publications using these data must be supplied to the Sevilleta LTER Information Manager. By downloading any data you implicitly acknowledge the LTER Data Policy (http://www.lternet.edu/data/netpolicy.html).

Publisher

Sevilleta Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Project

Source

http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/5ce54f1892e39a222bee8ba3fa2885fd

Temporal coverage

1992-01-24 - 2004-07-12

Spatial coverage

McKenzie Flats is located within the northeastern section of the Sevilleta NWR, encompassing an area from Black Butte south to Palo Duro Canyon and east to the Los Pinos.The Black Butte Mixed Grass site is located just inside the gate and to the south of Black Butte. This site is grassland, characterized by Oryzopsis hymenoides, Sporobolus giganteus, Sporobolus flexuosus, Bouteloua eriopoda, and occasional shrubs, including Gutierrezia sarothrae and Yucca glauca. Forbs include Senecio douglasii, Baileyi multiradiata, and Sphaeralcea spp. This site contains the fertilizer study plots, which are located less than one mile from the Black Butte gate on the east side of the road to Five Points.Five Points is the area which encompasses the Five Points Black Grama and Five Points Creosote Core study sites and falls along the transition between Chihuahuan Desert Scrub and Desert Grassland habitats. Both sites are subject to intensive research activity, including NPP measurement, phenology observation, pollinator diversity studies, and ground dwelling arthropod and rodent population assessments. There are drought rain-out shelters in both the Black Grama and Creosote sites, as well as the mixed-ecotone, with co-located ET Towers.Palo Duro Canyon is south of Five-Points and McKenzie Flats. Research in the area has included core vegetation line-intercept transects, re-sampling historic BLM vegetation transects, paleoecological studies of packrat middens, vegetation monitoring of the northern-most ocotillo population, and, most recently, the Very Large Moisture Array. A posrtion of the bird community assessment project was also located here.

DOI

doi:10.6073/pasta/5ce54f1892e39a222bee8ba3fa2885fd

Permanent URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/5ce54f1892e39a222bee8ba3fa2885fd

Recommended Citation

Parmenter, Robert (2011-02-17): Coyote Scat Survey in the Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands and Creosote Shrublands at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (1992-2004). Long Term Ecological Research Network. http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/5ce54f1892e39a222bee8ba3fa2885fd