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Species Assessment for White-Tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys Leucurus)

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Species Assessment for White-Tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys Leucurus) SPECIES ASSESSMENT FOR WHITE -TAILED PRAIRIE DOG (CYNOMYS LEUCURUS ) IN WYOMING prepared by DOUGLAS A. KEINATH Zoology Program Manager, Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Ave, Dept. 3381, Laramie, Wyoming 82071; 307-766-3013; [email protected] prepared for United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Wyoming State Office Cheyenne, Wyoming December 2004 Keinath - Cynomys leucurus December 2004 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 3 NATURAL HISTORY ........................................................................................................................... 4 Morphology............................................................................................................................. 4 Taxonomy and Distribution ..................................................................................................... 4 Taxonomy .......................................................................................................................................4 Range and Distribution....................................................................................................................5 Habitat Requirements............................................................................................................. 5 General ............................................................................................................................................5 Area Requirements..........................................................................................................................7 Landscape Pattern ...........................................................................................................................8 Movement and Activity Patterns ............................................................................................. 9 Migration.........................................................................................................................................9 Phenology......................................................................................................................................10 Reproduction and Survivorship..............................................................................................11 Breeding ........................................................................................................................................11 Fecundity and Survivorship ..........................................................................................................12 Population Demographics......................................................................................................13 Metapopulations and Genetic Concerns........................................................................................13 Food Habits...........................................................................................................................13 CONSERVATION .............................................................................................................................. 16 Conservation Status ..............................................................................................................16 Federal Endangered Species Act...................................................................................................16 Bureau of Land Management........................................................................................................17 Forest Service................................................................................................................................17 State Wildlife Agencies.................................................................................................................17 Heritage Ranks ..............................................................................................................................19 Biological Conservation Issues..............................................................................................20 Abundance and Abundance Trends...............................................................................................20 Distribution and Connectivity Trends ...........................................................................................23 Extrinsic Threats ...........................................................................................................................24 Anthropogenic Impacts...........................................................................................................24 Direct Killing.......................................................................................................................24 Habitat Alteration................................................................................................................25 Invasive Species......................................................................................................................27 Other Factors ..........................................................................................................................27 Intrinsic Vulnerability ...................................................................................................................28 Disease....................................................................................................................................28 Habitat and Area Restrictions.................................................................................................29 Dispersal Capability................................................................................................................30 Reproductive Capacity............................................................................................................30 CONSERVATION ACTION ................................................................................................................ 31 Existing Conservation Plans ..................................................................................................31 Wyoming in Context ..............................................................................................................31 Conservation Elements..........................................................................................................32 Element 1: Habitat Conservation ..................................................................................................32 Page 1 of 47 Keinath - Cynomys leucurus December 2004 Element 2: Disease Control...........................................................................................................35 Element 3: Shooting and Extermination Control ..........................................................................35 Element 4: Inventory and Monitoring...........................................................................................37 INFORMATION NEEDS ..................................................................................................................... 38 TABLES AND FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... 40 Table 1: State estimates of acreage of white-tailed prairie dog colonies ......................................40 Table 2: Population estimates for selected white-tailed prairie dog complexes...........................40 Figure 1: North American range and potential distribution of white-tailed prairie dogs ............41 Figure 2: Map of Natural Heritage ranks for white-tailed prairie dog ..........................................42 LITERATURE CITED ........................................................................................................................ 43 Page 2 of 47 Keinath - Cynomys leucurus December 2004 Introduction White tailed prairie dog range presently occurs 4 western states; Wyoming (71%), Colorado (16%), Utah (12%) and Montana (1%). This species is typically found in shrub-steppe and grassland environments in cool intermountain basins. White tails are one of five species of Cynomys, they have many characteristics that make them unique. Historically, white tails have been much maligned by white settlers in the west. Aggressive, government sponsored poisoning campaigns coupled with unregulated shooting and, most recently, the introduction of an exotic disesase (Plague, Yersinia pestis ) have worked in unison to reduce population sizes from what they once presumably were. Currently, white-tailed prairie dogs still occur across most of their historic range, but in smaller, isolated patches and at much-reduced abundance. Combined with this restriction in distribution, they are experiencing numerous external threats to their persistence, disease, habitat alteration, and direct killing for sport and pest control being of most immediate importance. Existing regulatory mechanisms at both the federal and state levels are inadequate to protect the white-tailed prairie dog. It is incumbent on the BLM to act on this animal's behalf using existing sensitive species policies within the Bureau. Minimally necessary conservation elements include: 1. reducing conversion of land to uses not compatible with local persistence of prairie dogs and minimizing impacts of semi-compatible uses (e.g., resource extraction and livestock grazing), 2. investigating the spread of disease among prairie dogs and minimizing its
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