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The Prairie Dog Ecosystems and Endangered Species

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The Prairie Dog Ecosystems and Endangered Species University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop Wildlife Damage Management, Internet Center Proceedings for December 1993 The Prairie Dog Ecosystems and Endangered Species Daniel W. Mulhern U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Manhattan, Kansas Kenneth L. Powell U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Manhattan, Kansas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/gpwdcwp Part of the Environmental Health and Protection Commons Mulhern, Daniel W. and Powell, Kenneth L., "The Prairie Dog Ecosystems and Endangered Species" (1993). Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop Proceedings. 349. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/gpwdcwp/349 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Wildlife Damage Management, Internet Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop Proceedings by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. The Prairie Dog Ecosystems and Endangered Species Daniel W. Mulhern Kenneth L. Powell U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Manhattan, Kansas The prairie dog is no doubt one of the most In one of the only controlled experiments controversial animals in the western United conducted to document the competitive States. Public sentiment regarding this effects of prairie dogs on cattle, there were rodent runs the gamut from some livestock slight reductions in weight gains of steers producers who are satisfied only with grazed on black-tailed prairie dog towns complete eradication of all prairie dogs, versus similar steers grazed on pastures and some animal rights groups who would with no prairie dogs (OMeilia et al. 1982). like to see all prairie dogs given complete While these reductions were not protection from any form of harm. Between statistically significant, they did result in these two extremes lie the real truths market values approximately $14-24 per surrounding this sometimes destructive, steer lower for the animals associated with mostly biologically beneficial, creature. this prairie dog species. This study occurred on pasture with a very high cattle stocking rate; the effects may have been The primary controversy involving prairie less with moderate stocking rate. No dogs, as is often the case with wild species, correlation has been made with the less lies in its tendency to conflict with the dense colonies formed by white-tailed or financial interests of humans. It is widely Gunnison's prairie dogs. believed that prairie dogs compete with There are also studies which have reported domestic livestock for valuable forage. the beneficial effects of prairie dogs on There is, in fact, considerable overlap in range condition, including increases in the diets of cattle and prairie dogs (Smith plant species diversity and richness in areas 1958), both grazers preferring grass over colonized by prairie dogs (Bonham and forbs. A single prairie dog may consume Lerwick 1976, Gold 1976, Archer et al. approximately 3 kg of vegetation per 1987). Prairie dog grazing produces higher month during the summer, and prairie dogs nitrogen concentrations in the shoots of also continuously clip taller vegetation newly growing vegetation which results within their colonies to remove visual from stems repeatedly being clipped off obstructions, with vegetation at the edges (Whicker and Deding 1988). In response to of the town thinned at least partially (King higher forage quality represented by these 1955, Koford 1958). The result of this tender new shoots, native grazers such as often is that grasses eventually become bison and pronghorn preferentially select replaced by a higher percentage of forbs, prairie dog colonies over uncolonized sites particularly in the center of a colony. (Krueger 1986). 187 There are five recognized species of prairie ecosystem, the black-footed ferret I, dog in North America, with four of these Mustela nigripes and the bald eagle occurring in the U.S. (Figure 1). These Haliaeetus leucocephalus include the black-tailed prairie dog ( n m s ludovicianus), white-tailed prairie dog (.Q. The black-footed ferret has long been leucurus), Gunnison's prairie dog (_Q. i ni known to be closely associated with prairie , the federallylisted threatened Utah prairie dogs, sheltering in their burrows and dog feeding on prairie dogs and other small parvidens), and the federally-listed mammals within a colony. Radiotelemetry endangered Mexican prairie dog studies of black-footed ferrets show that mexicanus). Accurate reports of prairie dog they generally leave prairie dog colonies numbers or densities during presettlement only to travel to adjacent colonies, with do not exist, but it is estimated that in 1919 one individual ferret even avoiding an area there were approximately 40 million populated with ground squirrels (Biggins et hectares (99 million acres) of occupied al. 1985). Among the several factors prairie dog colonies in the U.S. (Nelson contributing to its decline, the reduction in 1919). Early naturalist Ernest Thompson prairie dog habitat is cited as the principle Seton estimated that approximately 5 reason for the near extinction of the billion black-tailed prairie dogs occurred in black-footed ferret (U.S. Fish and Wildlife North America in the early 1900s (Foster Service 1988). Conversely, loss of prairie and Hygnstrom 1990). Control programs dog habitat is not cited as a factor in the and conversion of prairie to other land uses decline of the bald eagle, a species which is were estimated in 1978 to have reduced this typically associated with aquatic habitats most widespread of prairie dog species to and feeds primarily on fish and waterfowl. less than two percent of its population However, observations by Fish acrd numbers of just a few decades before Wildlife Service personnel of wintering (Summers and Linder 1978). bald eagles in Colorado, and one nesting pair in Kansas, indicate that prairie dog The ecological significance of the prairie colonies can provide a significant source of dog is exemplified by the fact that various prey. Impacts to prairie dog colonies in surveys have reported from 64 to 107 particular areas may therefore potentially vertebrate species and subspecies identified affect local bald eagle populations. on prairie dog towns (Tyler 1968, Campbell and Clark 1981, Clark et al. 1982). What In addition to federally-listed species, a effect has the war on prairie dogs had on number of species which use prairie dog the natural ecosystem of which they are an colonies have declined suffciently for the integral part? How have other species Fish and Wildlife Service to have included which share this ecosystem fared during them in a list of federal candidate species this period? In addition to the two listed (Table 1). Category 1 candidate species are prairie dog species, there are at least two those species for which the Service has on species listed as endangered by the U.S. file substantial information on biological Fish and Wildlife Service which are known vulnerability and threats to support to utilize the prairie dog proposals to list them as 188 00 CD 1 = black-tailed prairie dog 2 3 = Gunnison's prairie dog 4 = white-tailed prairie dog = Utah prairie dog Figure 1. Distribution of prairie dog species in the United States. endangered or threatened species. underground, the prairie dog burrows may Development and publication of proposed provide shelter for an individual or a rules to list category 1 species as family as well. So while swift foxes are threatened or endangered are anticipated at not completely dependent on prairie dogs some point in the future. Category 2 for sustenance, they are able to meet many candidates are species for which of their basic needs within a prairie dog information now in the possession of the colony. Service indicates that proposing to list as The eastern or plains spotted skunk is an endangered or threatened is possibly animal primarily associated with some appropriate, but for which conclusive data form of structure, such as brush or rock on biological vulnerability and threat are piles, and even abandoned buildings or not currenuy available to support proposed equipment. However, it is adapted to listing rules (U.S. Fish and Wildlife hunting on the open plains as well, Service 1991). searching for small rodents and insects and The Utah prairie dog was nearly lost other invertebrates. It probably preys more because of prairie dog control programs, frequently on the smaller residents of a resulting in its listing as an endangered prairie dog colony, rather than the prairie species in June 1973. But under intense dogs themselves, but these skunks are management, it recovered to the point opportunistic and may eat young prairie where it could be downlisted to threatened dogs, or scavenge on carcasses of larger status in May 1984. With continued animals. management and protection, it may be possible to realize full recovery within five years (Robert Benton, U.S. Fish and There are four candidate mouse subspecies Wildlife Service, personal which occur in open grasslands in communication). Similar population losses Arizona, all of which may utilize the currently face the Arizona black-tailed prairie dog ecosystem to some extent. prairie dog, a category 2 subspecies. This Similarly, the Texas kangaroo rat and the subspecies has been all but lost from Palo Duro mouse, in Texas, are believed to Arizona, primarily due to prairie dog occur at least occasionally in prairie dog control efforts in the state. colonies. Being primarily seed-eaters, they may each be susceptible to the placement The swift fox is one of the smallest canine of poison grain baits within a prairie dog predators in North America, occurring in colony. the short and mixed-grass prairies of the The ferruginous hawk is the largest of the Great Plains. This small fox feeds primarily buteos, or soaring hawks, in North on small rodents, such as ground squirrels America, and the one most at home on the and prairie dogs, with other small wide open spaces of the Great Plains.
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