The influence of fire and livestock grazing on the assemblage of non-flying small mammals in grassland-Araucaria Forest ecotones, southern Brazil

Grazing and fire, used in pasture regeneration practices, are inter-related activities in livestock management. Both activities affect habitat characteristics by changing the structure of the herbaceous and shrubby vegetation, reducing their biomass and litter cover. This study evaluated the effect of fire and livestock grazing on the assemblage of non-flying small mammals in grassland-Araucaria forest ecotones in southern Brazil. We compared four areas frequently affected by livestock management with four protected areas. Surveys were carried out in four sampling periods, one in each season o...