...ESSENTIAL TO THE RARE ECOSYSTEM IN WHICH IT LIVES--BRITISH COLUMBIA'S SOUTH OKANAGAN GRASSLANDS. THE GREAT BASIN POCKET MOUSE, PEROGNATHUS PARVUS, IS WELL ADAPTED TO LIVING IN OFTEN HOT, DRY CONDITIONS. IT SLEEPS DURING THE DAY IN A SUBTERRANEAN BURROW TO ESCAPE THE HEAT. IN ADDITION, IT CAN EXIST WITHOUT ACCESS TO WATER, GLEANING WHAT LIQUID IT NEEDS FROM THE FOOD IT EATS.

IT FEEDS ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY ON SEEDS. WHAT THE MOUSE DOESN'T EAT IMMEDIATELY, IT STUFFS INTO ITS CHEEKS AND LATER CACHES UNDERGROUND. THOSE SEEDS THAT THE MOUSE FORGETS TO RETRIEVE EVENTUALLY GERMINATE AND GROW INTO NEW SHRUBS THAT PROVIDE FOOD AND SHELTER FOR OTHER ANIMALS.

That's the thing about grasslands--there's much more going on than meets the eye. At first glance, the landscape is unassuming: clump after clump of shrubby brush in a palette of grey, brown, straw yellow, and pale green. The sandy soil seems incapable of nurturing life. But from a mouse's-eye view, it's a fascinating universe in which each plant, each animal, plays a role.

The grasslands ecosystem is surprisingly rich in life. It harbours about one-third of B.C.'s most endangered species, including the burrowing owl, tiger salamander, and badger. The grasslands themselves are one of Canada's four most endangered ecosystems, along with the Garry oak woodlands of B.C.'s south coast, Manitoba's tall grass prairie, and the Carolinian forest of southern Ontario.

Now, a new provincial protected area may help save what remains of B.C.'s rarest--and perhaps most underappreciated--landscape. One of 49 protected areas designated under the Okanagan-Shuswap Land and Resource Management Plan...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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