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Management-focused Research for Wildlife

Click a link below for details.

  • Invasive grasses and the impact on longnose leopard lizard
  • Small mammal communities in the eastern plains shrublands

Invasive Grasses and the Impact on Longnose Leopard Lizard

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The longnose leopard lizard (Gambelia wizlisenii) is the largest lizard in Colorado. It lives along the western margin of the state in arid shrublands, feeding on invertebrates, other lizards, and the occasional mouse. CNHP investigated what role invasive grasses have in altering leopard lizard habitat use by fitting them with telemeters and following them. Leopard lizards appear to avoid areas where invasive grasses, like cheat grass (Bromus tectorum), dominate the desert systems where they live (Schorr et al. 2011). Knowing how species respond to plant invasions can help land managers forecast and mitigate the impacts of such changes on the landscapes they manage.

Longnose leopard lizard
Longnose leopard lizard
Longnose leopard lizard habitat monitoring
Longnose leopard lizard habitat monitoring
Longnose leopard lizard with telemeter
Longnose leopard lizard with telemeter

Left-click to view, and right-click to download.

Below are links to Longnose Leopard Lizard Reports

  • Longnose leopard lizard (Gambelia wislizenii) home range and habitat use on Cannonball Mesa, Colorado
For information, contact Rob Schorr.

Small Mammal Communities in the Eastern Plains Shrublands

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The use of capture success has errantly been used as a predictor of habitat quality. CNHP investigated this misconception by studying small mammal communities in various habitat types at Pueblo Chemical Depot. Mark-recapture studies show that survival rates of small mammals, such as Ord’s kangaroo rats (Dipodomys ordii), deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), and northern grasshopper mice (Onychomys leucogaster) differ from capture rates in different habitats, and original interpretations of “high quality” habitat based on capture success are misleading (Schorr et al. 2007).

A researcher processes an Ord’s kangaroo rat at a trapping station.
A researcher processes an Ord’s kangaroo rat at a trapping station.
Ord’s kangaroo rat habitat
Ord’s kangaroo rat habitat
An Ord’s kangaroo rat
An Ord’s kangaroo rat
For information, contact John Sovell.

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      • Biennial Report
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