DOI: 10.5061/dryad.05qfttf8s
title: Effects of overgrazing on the functional diversity of rodents in desert areas

description: Environmental stressors and disturbances can cause changes in an
 ecosystem’s community structure, which can be reflected in its functional
 diversity. As grazing intensity increases, this causes changes in the
 environment that inevitably lead to changes in the community structure,
 which can especially be affected by rodents due to their sensitivity to
 the environment. The effects of Grazing-prohibition and overgrazing on the
 functional diversity of desert rodent communities in Alxa were studied in
 April, July, and October of 2018-2020. The trap-day method was used to
 study rodent communities in disturbed habitats. Five functional traits
 were selected and quantified: nutrition, life history, physiology,
 morphology, and activity rhythm. The results showed that: (1) The species
 composition of rodent communities in the Alxa Desert in spring and autumn
 was significantly correlated with the functional traits of hibernation,
 reproductive cycle, and feeding habits. The species composition in the
 summer was only significantly correlated with the functional traits of
 reproductive cycle and diet. (2) The effects of overgrazing on the
 functional diversity of rodents in desert areas have significant temporal
 and spatial characteristics. (3) In spring and summer, overgrazing made
 the Functional Richness index of the rodent community lower than that of
 areas where grazing is prohibited, but the Functional Evenness index was
 higher than that of Grazing-prohibition areas. In autumn, overgrazing
 increased the Functional Richness index of the rodent community and
 decreased the Functional Evenness index. The Functional Divergence index
 were higher in overgrazing areas than in grazing prohibited ones. These
 results suggest that, in spring and summer, overgrazing reduces the
 ecological space utilization of rodent communities, but its effect on
 community resource utilization is more comprehensive. In autumn,
 overgrazing increases the ecological space utilization rate of rodent
 community but decreases the resource utilization rate. Overgrazing makes
 the niche differentiation of rodent communities higher, the degree of
 overlap lower, and the competition between species weaker. Therefore,
 overgrazing will affect the functional diversity of the community through
 the utilization of ecological space, resource utilization, interspecific
 competition, and niche.
description: Using the trap-day method.Microsoft Excel was used to input and
 sort the original data and calculate the species diversity. A one-way
 analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed using SPSS 20.0 software and
 plotted using OriginPro 8 software. The Species Accumulation Curve was
 calculated and plotted using the 'vegan' package of software R
 4.2.0. The 'mFD' package of software R 4.2.0 was used to analyze
 the correlation between the functional axis and species traits, β
 diversity, Jaccard similarity coefficient, Kruskal-Wallis test and
 functional diversity index calculation, and the ' ggplot2 '
 package was used for mapping.
description: This README file was generated on 2024-01-31 by Na Zhu. GENERAL
 INFORMATION 1. Title of Dataset: Effects of overgrazing on the functional
 diversity of rodents in desert areas 2. Author Information A. Principal
 Investigator Contact Information Name: Na Zhu Institution: Inner Mongolia
 Agriculture University Address: Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China Email:
 3. Date of data collection (single date, range,
 approximate date): 2018-2020 4. Geographic location of data collection:
 south of Alxa Left Banner,china 5. Information about funding sources that
 supported the collection of the data: This experiment was funded by the
 National Natural Science Foundation of China (32060256, 32060395), Major
 Science and Technology Project of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
 (2021ZD0006), Inner Mongolia Nature Foundation (2023MS03025), The 2022
 Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Youth Science and Technology Talent
 Development Plan (NJYT22044), Science and Technology Project of Inner
 Mongolia Autonomous Region (2021GG0108), Basic scientific research
 business expenses of universities directly under Inner Mongolia Autonomous
 Region (BR22-13-07、BR220106、BR221037)，Grassland Ecological Protection and
 Restoration Treatment Subsidy(Z75070050001-2110405) . SHARING/ACCESS
 INFORMATION 1. Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: CC0 1.0 Universal
 (CC0 1.0) Public Domain 2. Links to publications that cite or use the
 data: Zhu, N., Li, X., Wu, Xiao. Dong., Li, L. L., Yang, S. W., Fu, H. P.,
 & Yuan, S. (2024). Effects of overgrazing on the functional diversity
 of rodents in desert areas. Ecology and Evolution. 1. Links to other
 publicly accessible locations of the data: None 2. Links/relationships to
 ancillary data sets: None 3. Was data derived from another source? No A.
 If yes, list source(s): NA 4. Recommended citation for this dataset: Zhu,
 N., Li, X., Wu, Xiao. Dong., Li, L. L., Yang, S. W., Fu, H. P., &
 Yuan, S. (2024). Data from: Effects of overgrazing on the functional
 diversity of rodents in desert areas. Dryad Digital Repository.
 DATA & FILE OVERVIEW
 1. File List: A) Species Accumulation Curve.xlsx B) Differences in
 Functional Traits between Different Grazing Patterns.xlsx C)
 Spring_abun.xlsx D) Summer_abun.xlsx E) autumn_abun.xlsx G) trait.xlsx H)
 trait_type.xlsx 1. Relationship between files, if important: None 2.
 Additional related data collected that was not included in the current
 data package: None 3. Are there multiple versions of the dataset? No A. If
 yes, name of file(s) that was updated: NA i. Why was the file updated? NA
 ii. When was the file updated? NA
 \################################################# DATA-SPECIFIC
 INFORMATION FOR: Species Accumulation Curve.xlsx 1. Number of variables: 7
 2. Number of cases/rows: 54 3. Variable List: * Meriones meridianus:
 Number of individuals captured * Orientallactaga sibirica: Number of
 individuals captured * Stylodipus telum: Number of individuals captured *
 Allocricetulus eversmanni: Number of individuals captured * Phodopus
 roborovskii: Number of individuals captured * Dipus sagitta: Number of
 individuals captured * Spermophilus alaschanicus: Number of individuals
 captured 1. Missing data codes: None 2. Specialized formats or other
 abbreviations used: None
 \################################################# DATA-SPECIFIC
 INFORMATION FOR: Differences in Functional Traits between Different
 Grazing Patterns.xlsx 1. Number of variables: 10 2. Number of cases/rows:
 18 3. Variable List: * HB: Number of individuals captured * N-HB: Number
 of individuals captured * OI: Number of individuals captured * PT: Number
 of individuals captured * BP: Number of individuals captured * QP: Number
 of individuals captured * NT: Number of individuals captured * DR: Number
 of individuals captured * 1: Number of individuals captured * 2: Number of
 individuals captured 1. Missing data codes: None 2. Specialized formats or
 other abbreviations used: None
 \################################################# DATA-SPECIFIC
 INFORMATION FOR: Spring_abun.xlsx 1. Number of variables: 7 2. Number of
 cases/rows: 2 3. Variable List: * Meriones meridianus: Number of
 individuals captured * Orientallactaga sibirica: Number of individuals
 captured * Stylodipus telum: Number of individuals captured *
 Allocricetulus eversmanni: Number of individuals captured * Phodopus
 roborovskii: Number of individuals captured * Dipus sagitta: Number of
 individuals captured * Spermophilus alaschanicus: Number of individuals
 captured 1. Missing data codes: None 2. Specialized formats or other
 abbreviations used: None
 \################################################# DATA-SPECIFIC
 INFORMATION FOR: Summer_abun.xlsx 1. Number of variables: 7 2. Number of
 cases/rows: 2 3. Variable List: * Meriones meridianus: Number of
 individuals captured * Orientallactaga sibirica: Number of individuals
 captured * Stylodipus telum: Number of individuals captured *
 Allocricetulus eversmanni: Number of individuals captured * Phodopus
 roborovskii: Number of individuals captured * Dipus sagitta: Number of
 individuals captured * Spermophilus alaschanicus: Number of individuals
 captured 1. Missing data codes: None 2. Specialized formats or other
 abbreviations used: None
 \################################################# DATA-SPECIFIC
 INFORMATION FOR: autumn_abun.xlsx 1. Number of variables: 7 2. Number of
 cases/rows: 2 3. Variable List: * Meriones meridianus: Number of
 individuals captured * Orientallactaga sibirica: Number of individuals
 captured * Stylodipus telum: Number of individuals captured *
 Allocricetulus eversmanni: Number of individuals captured * Phodopus
 roborovskii: Number of individuals captured * Dipus sagitta: Number of
 individuals captured * Spermophilus alaschanicus: Number of individuals
 captured 1. Missing data codes: None 2. Specialized formats or other
 abbreviations used: None
 \################################################# DATA-SPECIFIC
 INFORMATION FOR: trait.xlsx 1. Number of variables: 5 2. Number of
 cases/rows: 7 3. Variable List: * Circadian rhythm: Species are diurnal or
 nocturnal * hibernation: Species are hibernation, non-hibernation * toe
 type: Species are bipedal, quadrupedal * feeding: Species are omnivorous,
 phytophagous * reproductive cycle: Species are 1 generation/year, 2
 generations/year 1. Missing data codes: None 2. Specialized formats or
 other abbreviations used: None
 \################################################# DATA-SPECIFIC
 INFORMATION FOR: trait_type.xlsx 1. Number of variables: 1 2. Number of
 cases/rows: 5 3. Variable List: * trait_type: Discrete variables, 0-1
 variables 1. Missing data codes: None 2. Specialized formats or other
 abbreviations used: None