Between September 1980 and November 1984, an extensive live-trapping program was conducted to inventory the small mammal community on the Naval Petroleum Reserves in California (NPRC). We utilized this data to determine the occurrence and prevalence of the short-nosed kangaroo rat (Dipodomys nitratoides brevinasus), giant kangaroo rat (Dipodomys ingens), and San Joaquin antelope squirrel (Ammospermophilus nelsoni), on 14 sites located throughout NPRC. Our results indicated that, while San Joaquin antelope squirrels occurred on all sites at fairly similar capture rates, the occurrence and prevalence of short-nosed kangaroo rats and giant kangaroo rats varied substantially among sites and over time. This suggests that the composition of rodent communities at one site may not be representative of nearby unsampled sites. Therefore, sampling of rodents at one or a few sites may be inadequate to accurately estimate many ecological parameters or to document the presence or abundance of some rodent species, particularly across large areas.
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