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We capitalized on a regional-scale, anthropogenic experiment?the reduction of black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) towns across the Great Plains of North America?to test the hypothesis that decline of this species has led to declines in diversity of native grassland vertebrates of this region. We compared species richness and species composition of non-volant mammals, reptiles and amphibians at 36 prairie dog towns and 36 paired sites in the Panhandle Region of Oklahoma during the summers and falls of 1997, 1998 and 1999. We detected 30 species of mammals, 18 species of reptiles and seven species of amphibians. Comparisons between communities at prairie dog towns and paired sites in the adjacent landscape...
Concern over the status of species associated with prairie dog colonies has increased with the recent proposed listing of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus). We monitored burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) populations and prairie dog densities in 17 black-tailed prairie dog colonies in the Nebraska panhandle between 1990 and 1996. All prairie dog colonies were controlled at least once during the study. We observed a 63% decline in nesting pairs of burrowing owls and significant declines in burrow densities. Results indicated a time lag in owl response to changes in active burrow densities. However, in the later years of the study when burrow densities were lowest, owl numbers were positively correlated...
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We collected fleas from colonies of black-tailed prairie dogs in Badlands National Park, South Dakota, 2020-2021. Specifically, we tested fipronil grain for flea control on two colonies: Colony A in 2020 and Colony B in 2021. To assess on-host flea numbers (in 2020 and 2021), we anesthetized trapped prairie dogs (and their fleas) with isoflurane in induction chambers for processing. We combed each individual with a fine-tooth comb for 30 seconds to remove and count fleas. We released all animals, after they were recovered from anesthesia, at the location where they were captured. To assess off-host flea numbers (in 2021), we used a plumber’s cable to insert a 20- by 20-centimeter flannel-cloth as deep as possible...
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We live-trapped black-tailed prairie dogs on Buffalo Gap National Grassland, South Dakota, 2020-2021. We anesthetized trapped animals (and their fleas) with isoflurane in induction chambers for processing. We combed each individual with a fine-tooth comb for 30 seconds to remove and count fleas. The total flea count from an individual prairie dog was considered an index of flea abundance. We released all animals, after they were recovered from anesthesia, at the location where they were captured. Data were collected on sites treated with fipronil "FipBit" bait pellets for systemic flea control with prairie dogs. Sites were treated with FipBits containing 0.68, 0.71, or 0.83 milligrams of fipronil per FipBit. The...
Concern over the decline of grassland birds has spurred efforts to increase understanding of grassland bird-habitat relationships. Previous studies have suggested that black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) provide important habitat for shortgrass prairie avifauna, such as mountain plover (Charadrius montanus) and western burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea), although such studies are lacking in Colorado (USA). We used methods to estimate occupancy (psi) of mountain plover and burrowing owl on prairie dog colonies and other shortgrass prairie habitats in eastern Colorado. Mountain plover occupancy was higher on prairie dog colonies (psi = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.36-0.64) than on grassland (psi = 0.07,...
Some populations of western burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) have declined in recent decades. To design and implement effective recovery efforts, we need a better understanding of how distribution and demographic traits are influenced by habitat quality. To this end, we measured spatial patterns of burrowing owl breeding habitat selection within black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) colonies in northeastern Wyoming, USA. We compared burrow-, site-, colony-, and landscape-scale habitat parameters between burrowing owl nest burrows (n = 105) and unoccupied burrows (n = 85). We sampled 4 types of prairie dog colonies: 1) owl-occupied, active with prairie dogs (n = 16); 2) owl-occupied, inactive...
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We studied black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) on the Conata Basin, Buffalo Gap National Grassland, South Dakota, USA, 2007-2009. We live-trapped and sampled prairie dogs in 2007 (before known invasion of the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis), 2008 (the year of confirmed invasion), and 2009 (after invasion). Sampling was completed on three 9-ha plots treated annually with deltamethrin dust for flea (Y. pestis-vector) control and three 9-ha plots lacking flea control (non-dusted) as baselines. Each live-trapped prairie dog was marked with ear tags for permanent identification and tracking of survival. If a marked prairie dog was recaptured and identified (via ear tags) the following year, the prairie...
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We live-trapped and sampled black-tailed prairie dogs in Badlands National Park and Buffalo Gap National Grassland, South Dakota, 2017-2020. Sampling occurred on sites treated with 0.005% fipronil grain for flea control and plague mitigation, and non-treated sites functioning as experimental baselines. Prairie dogs were trapped, sexed, aged (adult or juvenile by size), weighed to the nearest 5 grams, and marked with ear tags for permanent identification. The length of each prairie dog's right hind foot was measured to the nearest millimeter, and the animal's body condition was indexed as a mass:foot ratio. We evaluated effects of fipronil grain on prairie dog body condition, monthly and annual survival, and reproduction....
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We collected fecal pellets from six black-tailed prairie dogs in captivity. Prairie dogs were provided free access to non-treated grain (oat groats) or fipronil-treated grain for 5 days. Two prairie dogs received non-treated grain and four prairie dogs received fipronil grain. During each day of the feeding trial, prairie dog fecal pellets were collected, stored in sealable plastic bags, labeled by treatment, and frozen. Fecal pellets from days 2, 3, 4, and 5 were placed in 1.5 milliliter (mL) centrifuge tubes, ground into morsels and powder (fine particles for flea larvae to eat) with a disposable polypropylene pestle, separated as 0.50 milligram (mg) subsamples into pre-labeled centrifuge tubes, and frozen. Oropsylla...
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We collected fleas from a colony of black-tailed prairie dogs on Buffalo Gap National Grassland, South Dakota, 2021. We collected flea data by combing prairie dogs and swabbing their burrows for fleas. Regarding combing, we anesthetized trapped prairie dogs (and their fleas) with isoflurane in induction chambers for processing. We combed each individual with a fine-tooth comb for 30 seconds to remove and count fleas. We released all animals, after they were recovered from anesthesia, at the location where they were captured. Regarding burrow swabbing, we used a plumber’s cable to insert a 20- by 20-centimeter flannel-cloth as deep as possible into burrow tunnels. We then shook the cable for 30 seconds to imitate...
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This dataset contains the result of the bioclimatic-envelope modeling of the six mammal species -- (a) New Mexican Jumping Mouse (Zapus hudsonius luteus), (b) Northern Pygmy Mouse (Baiomys taylori), (c) Gunnison's Prairie Dog (Cynomys gunnisoni), (d) Black-tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys ludovicianus), (e) American Pika (Ochotona princeps), and (e) Swift Fox (Vulpes velox) -- in the South Central US using the downscaled data provided by WorldClim. We used five species distribution models (SDM) including Generalized Linear Model, Random Forest, Boosted Regression Tree, Maxent, and Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) and ensembles to develop the present day distributions of the species based on climate-driven...
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The following vegetation map units were combined and recoded to 1 if they occurred on slopes less than or equal to 10%: Apacherian-Chihuahuan Semi-Desert Grassland and Steppe, Chihuahuan Loamy Plains Desert Grasslands, Apacherian-Chihuahuan Mesquite Upland Scrub, Chihuahuan Creosotebush Desert Scrub, and Agriculture. The extents of the map units were limited to HUC boundaries that included historic locations of black-tailed prairie dog towns and/or expert opinion. In some cases, there were HUCs that did not have evidence of historic towns, but were considered to contain sufficient habitat types to include within the model. In other cases, there was limited habitat and the boundaries of the HUC were clipped to include...
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We collected fleas from black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) on Buffalo Gap National Grassland and Badlands National Park, South Dakota, 2020-2022. We anesthetized trapped prairie dogs (and their fleas) with isoflurane in induction chambers for processing. We combed each individual with a fine-tooth comb for 30 seconds to remove and count fleas. We released all animals, after they were recovered from anesthesia, at the location where they were captured. Total flea counts from individual prairie dogs were considered an index of flea abundance. During 2018-2020, we provided prairie dogs on 21 sites with grain bait, laced with fipronil (0.005% by weight) by placing 1/2 cup or 1/4 cup of grain at each prairie...
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Our study was conducted in 2005 on 3 colonies of black-tailed prairie dogs on lands in Phillips County, Montana administered by the Bureau of Land Management and in 2009 on a colony of black-tailed prairie dogs on Buffalo Gap National Grassland, Pennington County, South Dakota managed by U.S. Forest Service. We live-trapped black-tailed prairie dogs in daylight with wire mesh traps and marked their ears with numbered tags for individual identification. We weighed each individual to the nearest gram and collected Universal Transverse Mercator coordinates of their trapping locations over time. In Montana, trapping began on 15 June 2005 and ended on 1 October 2005. In South Dakota, trapping was conducted during 7 June...
Black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) colonies are important to many vertebrate populations in the shortgrass prairie ecosystem. Because it is often desirable to assess black-tailed prairie dog populations, and indirect methods generally are more economical than direct counts, we tested whether aboveground counts of black-tailed prairie dogs were related to burrow entrance densities. Higher densities of burrow entrances have been assumed to reflect higher prairie dog densities. We determined if maximum aboveground counts of black-tailed prairie dogs differed temporally in morning and evening in southwestern Kansas, compared maximum aboveground count data with burrow entrance densities, and evaluated the...
Recent reintroduction of the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) in west-central South Dakota has focused new attention on black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus), because prairie dog colonies provide essential habitat for ferrets. Currently, management agencies are assessing prairie dog populations by counting active burrows, a technique that is attracting criticism. We correlated active and total burrow counts with prairie dog mark-recapture population estimates from 12 colonies located in Badlands National Park and adjacent Buffalo Gap National Grassland. We also correlated visual counts of prairie dogs and counts of mounds from aerial photographs with mark-recapture estimates to assess an alternative...
    map background search result map search result map Projected future bioclimate-envelope suitability for mammal species in South Central USA BLM REA MAR 2012 Black Tailed Prairie Dog Distribution Data on black-tailed prairie dog body condition, annual and monthly survival, and reproduction on sites treated or not treated with 0.005% fipronil grain for flea control and plague mitigation in South Dakota, USA, 2017-2020 Data on black-tailed prairie dog body mass, distance to nearest male and female black-footed ferret, distance to nearest American badger, and reencounter from early to late summer 2005 (Montana) and 2009 (South Dakota) Data on flea control using fipronil grain bait with black-tailed prairie dogs at Badlands National Park, South Dakota, 2020-2021 Data on flea control using FipBit fipronil bait pellets with black-tailed prairie dogs, South Dakota, 2020-2021 Data on flea control using lufenuron and nitenpyram baits with black-tailed prairie dogs, South Dakota, 2021 Data on flea larvae survival following exposure to black-tailed prairie dog scat, 2016-2018 Data on long-term flea control using fipronil grain bait with black-tailed prairie dogs, South Dakota, 2020-2022 Data on the effects of F1-V plague antigen vaccination and deltamethrin dust on black-tailed prairie dog annual survival and flea parasitism, South Dakota, 2007-2009 Data on flea larvae survival following exposure to black-tailed prairie dog scat, 2016-2018 Data on flea control using FipBit fipronil bait pellets with black-tailed prairie dogs, South Dakota, 2020-2021 Data on flea control using lufenuron and nitenpyram baits with black-tailed prairie dogs, South Dakota, 2021 Data on long-term flea control using fipronil grain bait with black-tailed prairie dogs, South Dakota, 2020-2022 Data on the effects of F1-V plague antigen vaccination and deltamethrin dust on black-tailed prairie dog annual survival and flea parasitism, South Dakota, 2007-2009 Data on flea control using fipronil grain bait with black-tailed prairie dogs at Badlands National Park, South Dakota, 2020-2021 Data on black-tailed prairie dog body condition, annual and monthly survival, and reproduction on sites treated or not treated with 0.005% fipronil grain for flea control and plague mitigation in South Dakota, USA, 2017-2020 BLM REA MAR 2012 Black Tailed Prairie Dog Distribution Projected future bioclimate-envelope suitability for mammal species in South Central USA Data on black-tailed prairie dog body mass, distance to nearest male and female black-footed ferret, distance to nearest American badger, and reencounter from early to late summer 2005 (Montana) and 2009 (South Dakota)