Effects of plains pocket gopher (Geomys bursarius) disturbances on tallgrass-prairie plant community structure

Our objective was to evaluate the effects of soil disturbances created by t he plains pocket gopher (Geomys bursarius) on the structure of a tallgrass- prairie plant community. We predicted that soil mounds and burrows would pr ovide sites for the: establishment of subordinate plant species, thereby in creasing regional plant community richness in this ecosystem that is highly dominated by perennial C-4, tallgrasses. Our results, however, revealed th at plant species richness and biomass were temporarily, decreased or unaffe cted in areas disturbed by gophers. Moreover the species found locally on m ounds and burrows were a subset of the dominant plants present in the undis turbed plant community and graminoids were more frequent on disturbances th an forbs. Our results indicate that perennial graminoids predominate in the rapid recovery of vegetation on pocket gopher mounds and burrows. This pre emps the establishment of less frequent forbs and, contrary to our predicti ons, decreases plant community richness.