Biogeographic implications of recent low-elevation recolonization by Neotoma cinerea in the Great Basin

Homestead Cave, a paleontological site located in a low-elevation arid sett ing in the northern Bonneville Basin of northcentral Utah, documents the lo cal extinction of Neotoma cinerea during the Middle Holocene. N. cinerea is present there today, and the Homestead Cave record suggests that recoloniz ation likely occurred sometime prior to 1,000 years ago. This history suppo rts the view (forwarded by T. E. Lawlor) that cross-valley dispersal by mam mals that generally are most abundant in cooler and moister land therefore higher elevation) parts of the Great Basin is still occurring, showing that Brown's model of Great Basin montane mammalian biogeography is incorrect. These dispersal patterns suggest that conservation efforts directed toward montane mammals in the Great Basin must include low-elevation access corrid ors to mountain masses.