Abstract 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.

中文翻译：

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草原土拨鼠 (Marmota bobak) 作为干旱草原生态系统工程师

摘要 穴居啮齿动物通常被认为是干旱环境中的生态系统工程物种。它们通过建造洞穴来创造独特的栖息地斑块：它们移动大量土壤、混合土壤层并改变当地的土壤特性。我们的目标是探索草原土拨鼠作为生态系统工程师在塑造草原植物物种组成和多样性方面的作用。首先，我们进行了文献检索以收集有关该物种生态系统工程效应的信息。其次，在一个案例研究中，我们比较了北哈萨克斯坦土拨鼠洞穴的植被与周围完整的草原，以确定物种组成和植物功能群的差异。洞穴的植被在结构和组成上与完整的草原植被不同。与完整草原相比，洞穴的特点是总植被覆盖率较低，一年生植物覆盖率较高，多年生草类覆盖率较低。我们在洞穴中发现了更多的原始物种，但也发现了一些特殊物种，例如 Agropyron cristatum、Anabasis salsa、Kochia prostrata 和 Petrosimonia spp。被限制在洞穴植被中。我们的研究结果表明，土拨鼠洞穴增加了草原植被的景观尺度异质性，并且可以作为几种草原特色物种扩散的垫脚石。被限制在洞穴植被中。我们的研究结果表明，土拨鼠洞穴增加了草原植被的景观尺度异质性，并且可以作为几种草原特色物种扩散的垫脚石。被限制在洞穴植被中。我们的研究结果表明，土拨鼠洞穴增加了草原植被的景观尺度异质性，并且可以作为几种草原特色物种扩散的垫脚石。