Effects of utilization pattern on rodent community diversity in the typical steppe of Hulun Buir

Field experiment with three grazing treatments, including continuous grazing, rotational grazing and forbidden grazing, was conducted to determine the effect of utilization pattern on rodent capture rate and its community diversity in the typical steppe of Hulun Buir from 2012 to 2014 by using live trap method. This study showed that capture rate of rodents was significantly higher in continuous grazing area than that in forbidden grazing area, and the grazing treatments altered the community structure of rodents, indicating that Citellus dauricus with 38.60% capture rate was dominant in continuous grazing area, and C. barabensis, and C. dauricus were dominant species in rotational grazing area, accounting for the 37.30% and 31.50% capture rate, respectively, and C. barabensis was dominant species in forbidden grazing area, with capture rate of 38.89%. This study also showed that the highest species richness and Shannon-Wiener index of rodent community were observed in continuous grazing area, and the highest evenness index of rodent community was found in rotational grazing area, while the lowest richness index, Shannon-Wiener index and evenness index of rodent community were observed in forbidden grazing area. The richness and Shannon-Wiener index in continuous grazing area were significantly higher than those in forbidden grazing area (P<0.05). These results indicated that the rotational grazing pattern encouraged grassland resources to effectively utilize and controlled the rodent troubles.