Steppe Marmot (Marmota bobak) as ecosystem engineer in arid steppes

Valkó O. Tölgyesi C. Kelemen A. Bátori Z. Gallé R. Rádai Z. Bragina T.M. Bragin Y.A. Deák B.
January 2021 Academic Press

Journal of Arid Environments
2021 #184

Burrow-dwelling rodents are often considered ecosystem engineer species in arid environments. They create distinct habitat patches by building burrows: they move large amounts of soil, mix soil layers and change soil properties locally. Our aim was to explore the role of Steppe Marmot as an ecosystem engineer in shaping the plant species composition and diversity of steppes. First, we made a literature search to gather information on the ecosystem engineering effect of the species. Second, in a case study, we compared the vegetation of marmot burrows with the surrounding intact steppes in North-Kazakhstan to identify differences in species composition and plant functional groups. Vegetation of the burrows was structurally and compositionally different from the intact steppe vegetation. Burrows were characterised by lower total vegetation cover, higher cover of annuals and lower cover of perennial grasses compared to the intact steppe. We found an increased cover of ruderal species on the burrows, but also several specialist species, such as Agropyron cristatum, Anabasis salsa, Kochia prostrata and Petrosimonia spp. were confined to the burrow vegetation. Our results suggest that marmot burrows increase the landscape-scale heterogeneity of the steppe vegetation and could act as stepping stones for the dispersal of several steppe-specialist species.

Burrow , Dry grassland , Ecosystem engineer , Kazakhstan , Keystone species , Marmot

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MTA-ÖK Lendület Seed Ecology Research Group, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány út 2-4, Vácrátót, H-2163, Hungary
Department of Ecology, University of Szeged, Közép fasor 52, Szeged, H-6726, Hungary
MTA-ÖK Lendület Landscape and Conservation Ecology Research Group, Institute of Ecology and Botany, Centre for Ecological Research, Alkotmány út 2-4, Vácrátót, H-2163, Hungary
Kostanay State Pedagogical University Named After Omirzaq Sultangazin, Tauelsizdik Street, 118, Kostanay, 110000, Kazakhstan
Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (FSBSI “VNIRO”), Azov-Black Sea Branch of the FSBSI “VNIRO” (“AzNIIRKH”), Beregovaya Street, 21v, Rostov-on-Don, 344002, Russian Federation
Naurzum National Nature Reserve, Village Karamendy, Kazbek Bi Street, 5, Naurzum District, Kostanai Region, Kazakhstan

MTA-ÖK Lendület Seed Ecology Research Group
Department of Ecology
MTA-ÖK Lendület Landscape and Conservation Ecology Research Group
Kostanay State Pedagogical University Named After Omirzaq Sultangazin
Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (FSBSI “VNIRO”)
Naurzum National Nature Reserve

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