Short-term impacts of prescribed fire on a rodent community in desert grasslands.

We compared vegetation features and rodent communities between a recently b urned area and a nearby control area, and also these same areas 1 year prio r to the fire treatment. Bare ground increased and grass and litter decreas ed following the burn. We did not detect differences in cover of trees and shrubs. Rodent communities did not differ in size or species richness betwe en burned and unburned grids. Total number of rodents on both grids increas ed in the year of the burn, with the unburned grid showing the greater incr ease. These increases seem unrelated to the burn treatment. There appeared to be a relative change in proportions of bipedal and quadrupedal heteromyi ds on burned and control grids.