ABSTRACT
The North American shortgrass prairie extends on the high plains just east of the Rocky Mountains from the southern portion of Alberta and Saskatchewan to the southern boundary of New Mexico. Annual precipitation averages 30 to 55 cm, with a dry season from early or late summer to autumn or early winter. Small mammals common to the North American shortgrass prairie include representatives from four families, with the Cricetidae and Heteromyidae perhaps most numerous in terms of number of different species. Two general methods of censusing small mammals in shortgrass prairies are in common use: mark-recapture live trapping and removal trapping.
