Ecological and Mycological Characteristics of Caches in the Mounds of Dipodomys spectabilis

Banner-tailed kangaroo rats ( Dipodomys spectabilis ) are primarily granivorous and store large quantities of seeds in underground caches. We found that a majority of these caches occurred near 30 cm in depth or below 50 cm. Most caches were approximately one third of the distance from the mound center to the edge and were on the north or northwest side of the mounds. There was no obvious temporal relationships between use of seed and when they were gathered. Seeds stored early and late in a four-month period were significantly depleted after the four months while those stored during the middle of the experimental period, when native seeds were abundant, were not depleted. Mycological analyses of the caches revealed at least 23 species of fungi. Fungal colonists were more abundant and diverse in caches made in the middle of a four-month caching period than early or late in the period.