Ord's Kangaroo Rat

More info for the terms: cover, forest

Ord's kangaroo rats occur in communities on sandy soils including
semiarid grasslands, mixed-grass prairie, shrub- and scrublands, and
pinyon (Pinus spp.)-juniper (Juniperus spp.) woodlands [11]. In Canada
Ord's kangaroo rats are confined to open, sandy areas with a sparse
cover of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), snowberry (Symphoricarpos spp.),
rose (Rosa spp.), creeping juniper (J. horizontalis), and buffaloberry
(Shepherdia spp.); the distribution of Ord's kangaroo rats appears to be
closely associated with that of lanceleaved breadroot (Psoralea
lanceolata) [2]. In Oregon Ord's kangaroo rats occur in big sagebrush
(A. tridentata), western juniper (J. occidentalis), and greasewood
(Sarcobatus spp.) communities. In Idaho they are most abundant in
juniper woodlands with rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus spp.) and winterfat
(Krascheninnikovia lanata) in the understory [11], but also occur on
shadscale (Atriplex confertifolia) range [12]. In Utah Ord's kangaroo
rats have an affinity for sagebrush, pinyon-juniper, and saltbush
(Atriplex spp.) communities [11]. In Nevada Ord's kangaroo rats are
associated with big sagebrush communities [37]. In Colorado Ord's
kangaroo rats comprised 19 percent of small mammal captures in
pinyon-juniper forest, scattered pinyon-juniper, and pinyon-juniper in
canyon habitats [30]. In New Mexico Ord's kangaroo rats are found in
yucca (Yucca spp.), oak (Quercus spp.), mesquite (Prosopis spp.),
saltbush, and creosotebush (Larrea tridentata) communities [11,23].
They are particularly abundant in mesquite sand dunes [7]. In Texas
Ord's kangaroo rats occur in honey mesquite (P. glandulosa), sand
sagebrush (Artemisia filifolia), yucca, sand shinnery oak (Q. havardii),
and broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae) communities [11]. In
southwestern Kansas Ord's kangaroo rats are characteristic residents of
sand sagebrush prairie [33].


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Ord's kangaroo rat

More info for the terms: natural, shrubs

Even in shrub-dominated communities, heteromyids including Ord's
kangaroo rat tend to concentrate their activity in open areas between
shrubs [44].

Ord's kangaroo rats are poor diggers because of their weak forelegs and
slender claws. They dig shallow burrows in loose sand in the sides of
natural sand dunes, riverbanks, or road cuts. There is one central
burrow surrounded by trails to feeding areas [2]. Ord's kangaroo rat
burrows have 3-inch (7.6 cm) diameter openings. Small mounds are
usually formed outside the entrance to the burrow [41]. The burrow
opening is usually plugged with soil during the day to maintain
temperature and humidity within tolerable levels [11,19]. They scoop
out small, shallow depressions to be used as dusting spots [41].

Ord's kangaroo rat ranges from southern Alberta and southern
Saskatchewan to southern Hidalgo, Mexico, and from central Oregon and
eastern California east to central Kansas and Oklahoma [11].

More info for the terms: forbs, seed

Ord's kangaroo rats are primarily granivorous and herbivorous. They
consume a variety of foods but most commonly the seeds of grasses and
forbs, green vegetation, and dry vegetation. They occasionally consume
animal material, mostly arthropods. In Colorado seeds comprised 74
percent of Ord's kangaroo rat diets, forbs 13 percent, grasses and
sedges 5 percent, arthropods 4 percent, and fungi and mosses 2 percent
[11].

In southeastern Idaho big sagebrush/crested wheatgrass range, Ord's
kangaroo rats consumed (in order of proportion) pollen, arthropods,
plant parts (Asteraceae) and crested wheatgrass seeds [17]. A study of
Ord's kangaroo rat foods in Texas found that the primary foods consumed
included seeds of sand paspalum (Paspalum stramineum), honey mesquite,
sand bluestem (Andropogon gerardii var. paucipilus), common ragweed
(Ambrosia artemisiifolia), and rose-ring gaillardia (Gaillardia
pulchella) [1]. In Texas seeds of creosotebush, gramas (Bouteloua spp.)
and dropseeds (Sporobolus spp.) form the major portion of Ord's
kangaroo rat diets [31]. Seeds of mesquite, Russian-thistle, sunflowers
(Helianthus spp.), and sandbur (Cenchrus spp.) are also major dietary
items [41].

Harvested seeds are transported in cheek pouches to burrows and consumed
or cached there. Ord's kangaroo rats also cache seed in scattered
shallow holes; this activity sometimes results in seedling emergence.
Ord's kangaroo rats are easily able to retrieve shallowly buried seeds.
A single Ord's kangaroo rat may make tens to hundreds of caches, each
with tens to hundreds of seeds [21].

Kangaroo rats are physiologically adapted to arid environments. Most
water is obtained from seeds and succulent plants. They drink water
when it is available but apparently do not require free water [2,22].

More info for the terms: cover, fire frequency, forbs, frequency, seed, shrub, shrubs, succession, wildfire

Fire in desert and semidesert communities reduces shrub cover and
creates more open areas that are favored by Ord's kangaroo rats. In
Nevada sagebrush-grassland, an area burned by wildfire was dominated by
Indian ricegrass (Oryzopsis hymenoides). Ord's kangaroo rats were more
abundant in the Indian ricegrass-dominated burned areas than in adjacent
unburned sagebrush. Kangaroo rats (mostly Merriam's and Ord's kangaroo
rats) apparently played a role in encouraging the postfire dominance of
Indian ricegrass through the caching and subsequent germination of
Indian ricegrass seed. They also consume large seeds such as those of
Artemisia species more often than small seeds such as those of annual
forbs, thus reducing shrub seed available for colonization of burned
areas [20,21].

In singleleaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla)-Utah juniper (Juniperus
osteosperma) with a sparse understory of big sagebrush and desert
bitterbrush (Purshia glandulosa), prescribed fires were conducted in the
winter and fall. Fire converted pinyon-juniper communities to
single-layered, forb-dominated communities. Ord's kangaroo rats were
caught on both burned an unburned areas, but were not common on either
treatment. The first season after the fire a few more Ord's kangaroo
rats were caught on the unburned areas than on the burned areas.
However, Ord's kangaroo rats were caught only on burned areas the second
postfire season. Ord's kangaroo rats appeared to be attracted by seeds
of annual forbs on burned areas; Ord's kangaroo rat numbers increased
with increased abundance of annual forbs [24].

In western Nevada cheatgrass invasion of sparse desert shrub communities
has increased the incidence of wildfire. Postfire succession is not
well known due to the recent change in fire frequency. An area burned
in 1985 supported four species of Dipodomys including Ord's kangaroo rat
through 1990. Since some desert species do not survive fire well,
seeding of native species in the immediate postfire period is
recommended to regenerate desert shrubs and prevent cheatgrass
dominance. Indian ricegrass is a good choice for seeding but it is
expensive [43].

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This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

68 Mesquite
220 Rocky Mountain juniper
238 Western juniper
242 Mesquite

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

More info for the term: shrub

FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES28 Western hardwoods
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES30 Desert shrub
FRES31 Shinnery
FRES32 Texas savanna
FRES33 Southwestern shrubsteppe
FRES34 Chaparral-mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon-juniper
FRES38 Plains grasslands
FRES39 Prairie
FRES40 Desert grasslands

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This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the terms: forest, shrub, woodland

K022 Great Basin pine forest
K023 Juniper-pinyon woodland
K024 Juniper steppe woodland
K027 Mesquite bosque
K031 Oak-juniper woodlands
K032 Transition between K031 and K037
K033 Chaparral
K037 Mountain-mahogany-oak scrub
K038 Great Basin sagebrush
K039 Blackbrush
K040 Saltbush-greasewood
K041 Creosotebush
K042 Creosotebush-bursage
K043 Paloverde-cactus shrub
K044 Creosotebush-tarbush
K047 Fescue-oatgrass
K050 Fescue-wheatgrass
K051 Wheatgrass-bluegrass
K055 Sagebrush steppe
K064 Grama-needlegrass-wheatgrass
K065 Grama-buffalograss
K066 Wheatgrass-needlegrass
K067 Wheatgrass-bluestem-needlegrass
K068 Wheatgrass-grama-buffalograss
K069 Bluestem-grama prairie
K085 Mesquite-buffalograss
K070 Sandsage-bluestem prairie
K088 Fayette prairie

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This species is known to occur in association with the following Rangeland Cover Types (as classified by the Society for Range Management, SRM):

More info for the terms: association, forb, shrub, shrubland, vine, woodland

104 Antelope bitterbrush-bluebunch wheatgrass
105 Antelope bitterbrush-Idaho fescue
106 Bluegrass scabland
107 Western juniper/big sagebrush/bluebunch wheatgrass
109 Ponderosa pine shrubland
110 Ponderosa pine-grassland
210 Bitterbrush
211 Creosotebush scrub
212 Blackbush
314 Big sagebrush-bluebunch wheatgrass
315 Big sagebrush-Idaho fescue
316 Big sagebrush-rough fescue
317 Bitterbrush-bluebunch wheatgrass
318 Bitterbrush-Idaho fescue
319 Bitterbrush-rough fescue
320 Black sagebrush-bluebunch wheatgrass
321 Black sagebrush-Idaho fescue
322 Curlleaf mountain-mahogany-bluebunch wheatgrass
324 Threetip sagebrush-Idaho fescue
401 Basin big sagebrush
402 Mountain big sagebrush
403 Wyoming big sagebrush
404 Threetip sagebrush
405 Black sagebrush
406 Low sagebrush
407 Stiff sagebrush
408 Other sagebrush types
409 Tall forb
412 Juniper-pinyon woodland
414 Salt desert shrub
416 True mountain-mahogany
501 Saltbush-greasewood
503 Arizona chaparral
504 Juniper-pinyon pine woodland
506 Creosotebush-bursage
507 Palo verde-cactus
508 Creosotebush-tarbush
509 Transition between oak-juniper woodland and mahogany-oak association
605 Sandsage prairie
606 Wheatgrass-bluestem-needlegrass
607 Wheatgrass-needlegrass
608 Wheatgrass-grama-needlegrass
612 Sagebrush-grass
614 Crested wheatgrass
615 Wheatgrass-saltgrass-grama
701 Alkali sacaton-tobosagrass
702 Black grama-alkali sacaton
703 Black grama-sideoats grama
704 Blue grama-western wheatgrass
705 Blue grama-galleta
706 Blue grama-sideoats grama
707 Blue grama-sideoats grama-black grama
709 Bluestem-grama
712 Galleta-alkali sacaton
713 Grama-muhly-threeawn
714 Grama-bluestem
715 Grama-buffalograss
716 Grama-feathergrass
718 Mesquite-grama
720 Sand bluestem-little bluestem (dunes)
721 Sand bluestem-little bluestem (plains)
722 Sand sagebrush-mixed prairie
725 Vine mesquite-alkali sacaton
727 Mesquite-buffalograss

More info for the terms: cover, grassland, seed, shrubland

There is some evidence that Ord's kangaroo rats and other Dipodomys
species are a key component in maintaining the grass component of salt
desert plant assemblages in the Great Basin [21]. Seed predation and
soil disturbance are the major influences of Dipodomys species. They
exhibit a preference for large seeds and their soil disturbance promotes
annuals over perennials. In southeastern Arizona desert scrub, removal
of the three Dipodomys species including Ord's kangaroo rat resulted in
a shift from shrubland to grassland. There was an increase in cover of
Lehmann lovegrass (Eragrostis lehmanniana) and threeawn (Aristida
adscensions) and a decrease in cover of needle grama (Bouteloua
aristoides) and six-weeks grama (B. barbata) [5].


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AZ
CA
CO
ID
KS
MT
NE
NV
NM
OK

OR
SD
TX
UT
WY





AB
SK





MEXICO

More info for the term: frequency

In the Great Basin sagebrush, intermountain sagebrush steppe, and
intermountain salt desert shrublands potential predators of Ord's
kangaroo rats include coyotes (Canis latrans), kit fox (Vulpes velox),
bobcats (Lynx rufus), badgers (Taxidea taxus), long-eared owls (Asio
otus), short-eared owls (Asio flammeus), great horned owls (Bubo
virginianus), burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia), hawks (Buteonidae and
Falconidae spp.), rattlesnakes (Crotalus spp.), and gopher snakes
(Pituophis melanoleucus) [38,39,40]. In Idaho the remains of Ord's
kangaroo rats were found in up to 25 percent of prairie falcon (Falco
mexicanus) nests. The 3-year average frequency of Ord's kangaroo rat
remains in prairie falcon nests was 4 percent [27].

More info for the terms: competition, cover, density, shrubs

Ord's kangaroo rats occur mainly in semiarid, open habitats. In Nevada
they were trapped in desert scrub and gravelly soil, flat pebble desert,
and washes [8]. In Utah Ord's kangaroo rats have an affinity for open
shrublands and grasslands on sandy soils [11]. In southeastern Idaho
big sagebrush/crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum) range, most Ord's
kangaroo rat captures occurred on disturbed sites (areas of sparse
cover: Russian-thistle (Salsola kali), cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum),
and green rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus), followed by
disturbed areas seeded to crested wheatgrass, then undisturbed big
sagebrush [17]. In western South Dakota Ord's kangaroo rats are
associated with black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) towns
[34]. In Wyoming Ord's kangaroo rats are abundant in sand dune
communities where vegetation is greater than 10 inches (25 cm) tall and
bare soil exceeds 40 percent [11]. In Colorado Ord's kangaroo rats were
primarily captured in open areas with firm soil. Firm or lightly
compacted soils are needed for burrow construction; highly compacted
soils are too hard to dig into [30]. In areas of desert pavement or
tough clay soils in the Trans-Pecos region of Texas, Ord's kangaroo rats
are confined to pockets of windblown sand and alluvial soils along
arroyos [31].

There is strong intraspecific competition and little interspecific
competition among Dipodomys species [32]. In New Mexico, where Ord's
kangaroo rats are sympatric with Merriam's kangaroo rats (Dipodomys
merriamii), Ord's kangaroo rats were mostly captured in grassy
microhabitats, and Merriam's kangaroo rats were captured more often
around creosotebush [32]. Herbicide defoliation of shrubs (for
rangeland improvement) reduced live canopy cover of creosotebush and
resulted in an increase in bush muhly (Muhlenbergia porteri). After
treatment Ord's kangaroo rat replaced Merriam's kangaroo rat as the
dominant rodent. It was suggested that this was due to the change in
habitat structure to open grass [42].

Removal experiments to establish single species populations of kangaroo
rats were unsuccessful since many kangaroo rats are transient and
quickly occupy vacated habitats [32]. Only one adult occupies a given
burrow system, except for a brief period during breeding activity.
There is little territoriality above groud except near the burrow
entrance, which is defended [8].

Home Range: In New Mexico Ord's kangaroo rat annual home ranges in
mesquite averaged 3.35 acres (1.36 ha) [11]. In Nevada
sagebrush/grassland Ord's kangaroo rat home ranges were estimated to be
1.53 acres (0.62 ha) by the circular method and 1.06 acres (0.43 ha) by
the principal component method. Home range movements increased through
spring and again in late fall and early winter. There was no
significant difference between male and female Ord's kangaroo rat home
ranges; however, female home ranges decreased during reproductive
periods [26]. Recapture data for Ord's kangaroo rats in Arizona
indicate that they do not travel far from the home range; most Ord's
kangaroo rats were recaptured within 165 feet (50 m) of the original
capture site. Data on the lifetime movements of individuals indicated
that most were recaptured within 330 feet (100 m) of the original
capture site [6].

Population Density: In sagebrush in the Great Basin, Ord's kangaroo
rats reach an average density of 113 Ord's kangaroo rats per 10 hectares
[38]. In intermountain salt-desert shrublands Ord's kangaroo rat
population density average 28 individuals per 10 hectares in shadscale
communities and 135 individuals per 10 hectares in black greasewood
(Sarcobatus vermiculatus) communities [40].

More info on this topic.

This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

5 Columbia Plateau
6 Upper Basin and Range
7 Lower Basin and Range
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
10 Wyoming Basin
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau
13 Rocky Mountain Piedmont
14 Great Plains
16 Upper Missouri Basin and Broken Lands

The currently accepted scientific name for Ord's kangaroo rat is
Dipodomys ordii Woodhouse. It belongs to the family Heteromyidae,
kangaroo rats and mice. Hall [13] listed 35 subspecies; however,
Kennedy and Schnell [15] reported that many of these subspecies are
probably not legitimate since they were based on the assumption that
there is little sexual dimorphism in the species. It has now been
established that there is much sexual dimorphism within the taxon [15].

More info for the terms: cover, density, litter

Ord's kangaroo rats are nocturnal. They spend the day in deep burrows
[41]. Males are usually more abundant and active than females. Ord's
kangaroo rat activity increases under cloud cover, particularly in
winter [11]. Ord's kangaroo rats are active year-round in Texas, but
further north they are seldom seen aboveground in cold weather [41].

Breeding Seasons: Ord's kangaroo rat breeding season varies with
subspecies and area. There are usually one or two peak breeding seasons
per year, and in many areas some breeding activity occurs year-round
[11,36]. The size of ovaries is significantly positively correlated
with temperature [11]. The average length of the breeding period is 6.8
months. In Texas males are fertile all year, with peak reproductive
activity occurring between August and March. Higher reproductive rates
are associated with increased precipitation and food supply and
decreased population density. In a favorable growing season most
females bred at least twice a year; but when population density
increased females did not breed until November even though growing
conditions and food supplies were favorable [25]. In Arizona the lowest
proportion of males in breeding condition (about 60 percent of the male
population) occurred in January and September-October. The lowest
number of females in breeding condition occurred in November, but there
were at least a few females breeding at that time [5]. In Oklahoma
there are two peaks in breeding activity: August-September and December
through March [14]. In many areas the onset of breeding activity
follows a period of rainfall the previous month [11].

Gestation and Litter Size: Gestation lasts 28 to 32 days. There are
usually one to six embryos. In captivity the maximum litter size was
six young [11].

Productivity and Longevity: The maximum number of litters produced per
year by a captive female was five, the maximum number of litters per
lifetime was nine, and the maximum number of young per female's lifetime
was 38. The longest-lived Ord's kangaroo rat in captivity was 7 years 5
months [11]. Brown and Zeng [6] calculated an annual death rate of 0.35
for all age classes.

More info for the term: fire regime

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FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find FIRE REGIMES".