This past month was an awesome experience as we were surveying some of the last remaining prairie dog towns of significant size in North and South Dakota. These surveys were conducted at night and during the day and we observed various species of wildlife that are often difficult to see, especially all congregating in the same place.
We are fortunate to do these assessments through funding from the Bureau of Indian Affairs for black footed ferret and rare bat inventories. The Department of Biology at the University of Central Missouri is also providing funding for Seth Gutzmer, graduate student, who is conducting research on habitats for re-introduction improvements and characterization for the endangered black footed ferret.
Most ecologists agree that black-tailed prairie dogs provide a keystone role in the Great Plains, yet the species has declined dramatically over the past 150 years. Their presence and value are debated by a wide range of people. In Nebraska, only a few small and scattered complexes remain.
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The black-tailed prairie dog, Cynomys ludovicianus, is a small to medium-sized burrowing rodent that lives in colonies called prairie dog towns. About five billion prairie dogs were thought to inhabit the Great Plains in the early 1900s. Estimates today indicate only a small fraction of that number.
Prairie dog towns are active year-round. During the day, they feed on grasses, forbs and other woody plants close to their mound for nutrition and to see predators much easier.
The vegetation we see in dog towns is generally consistent on the dog towns we work on, crested wheat, fringed sage, silver sage, Louisiana wormwood, woolly plantain and wolf or coralberry, among others. The grasses are kept short, and this complex offers higher amounts of nutrition in these well-kept towns. These habitat mosaics are attractive to a wide variety range of wildlife species.
Black-tailed prairie dogs on dog towns are closely associated with golden eagles, swift fox, coyotes, badgers, long-tailed weasels, red-tailed hawks, burrowing owls, small mammals, snakes, potentially bats and the endangered black-footed ferret. Numerous deer, antelope, and buffalo, if present, frequent towns in search of food and shelter. The prairie dog provides a food source for a wide variety of predators.
Historically, bison grazed on prairie dog towns, which now have been replaced with cattle and crop fields. Prairie dogs have been drastically reduced in some areas due to cultivation, urban sprawl and human development, poisoning, changing climates and invasive species into native plant communities.
The makeup of their vast, former colonies; and the way their “towns” transformed the surrounding terrain in the past, was impressive. Now humans have transformed the way these large expansive colonies have disappeared through agriculture and human expansion. To ensure the long-term viability of prairie dog populations, collaborative efforts, and resources to minimize the impacts of prairie dogs on private landowners will be a big step.
As we see impacts to world-wide ecosystems such as the Great Barrier Reef, Amazon rainforests, African savannahs, ocean litter islands in the Pacific, increases in water temperatures and water quality in general, human populations rising, and a net increase in the amount of pollution, the time has come for government and private sector collaboration for the best ideas possible.
Closer to home, with proper management, innovative thinking and funding, these unique icons of the prairie can be sustained at levels that ensure the natural heritage and biodiversity of the Great Plains for generations to come. We still have a chance (maybe limited) to save many of the plant and animal species that have drastically decreased throughout most of our baby boomer lifetime.
Michael P. Gutzmer, PhD is principal and owner of New Century Environmental LLC and provides environmental consulting services in the Great Plains. NCE works with water, wetlands, habitat development threatened and endangered species and pollution problems. He can be contacted at mgutzmer@newcenturyenvironmental.com