Benefits of Prairie Dogs

Soil Health

According to the Great Plains Restoration Council:

• "Prairie dog burrows act as aquifers that prevent water from eroding land while helping to cool it.

• Recent studies have shown that ‘managed’ grasses and forbs atop a prairie dog town are higher in protein and nitrogen and are favored for grazing by bison, elk, and pronghorn.

• a [Prairie dog] burrowing can be beneficial to the soil because mixing soil types and incorporating organic matter enhances soil formation. It also helps to increase soil aeration and decrease compaction.

• In short-grass prairies, the number of plant species, particularly forbs, increases because of the digging and scratching activities of prairie dogs that disturb the soil. These patches of bare soil provide excellent sites for annual forbs to become established. . . . Long-term use of an area by prairie dogs appears to promote buffalograss and grama grasses (Foster & Hygnstrom).

• Prairie dogs do more than just serve as prey, they also perform a valuable service for the prairie – they disturb it. In addition to digging up the soil, prairie dogs clip the vegetation around their burrows, enhancing nitrogen uptake by these plants. Natural disturbances are an important part of maintaining the prairie ecosystem (Kotliar, 2001)."

• "Like giant earthworms, their excavations were loosening and turning, fertilizing and aerating nearly six tons of hard-baked desert soils per acre, more than eight times the combined output of all kangaroo rats, badgers and other burrowing mammals of the grasslands (Stolzenburg, 2004)."

Food For Predators

Threats to Prairie Dogs

Habitat Loss

Persecution from Farmers & Gardeners

Livestock ranchers often kill off prairie dogs out of fear that their livestock will break their legs in the burrows.

There is also a belief that prairie dogs damage the soil and cause errosion, however they actually help reduce erosion. Their activities boost the growth of nutritious grass and forage materials, which attracts cattle, who then cause compaction and erosion. Prairie dogs like to move into the types of spaces caused by cattle (which are similar to buffalo wallows), which creates the illusion that the prairie dogs have caused the damage to the land.

Warning!

According to researchers, "Eliminating prairie dogs can lead desertification"! 

"The black-tailed prairie dog, for instance, has disappeared from 98 percent of its original range. Scientists have documented the loss to biodiversity that comes from prairie dog eradication, and now researchers in Mexico have found that the disappearance of black-tailed prairie dogs also affects essential ecosystem services, such as soil erosion and groundwater recharge. Their study appears in PLOS ONE.

The research team studied grasslands and scrublands in the northwestern part of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, comparing three types of land: grasslands with prairie dogs, grasslands devoid of prairie dogs and scrublands that used to be home to prairie dogs and are now dominated with mesquite. In each of these three areas, the scientists documented five ecosystem services: groundwater recharge, soil erosion, soil productive potential, carbon storage and availability of forage.

For all five factors, the prairie dog grasslands won out. “Our results clearly demonstrate a strong link between prairie dogs and the provision of ecosystem services,” the researchers write.

The prairie dog’s burrowing behavior aerates the soil and distributes nutrients and organic material, generally improving the soil and helping water trickle through. As a result, the lands where they live have soils that are less compacted. Those soils can soak up more of the region’s sparse water, sequestering it for drier times. More water increases forage production, meaning there’s more food for cattle. And these grasslands store more carbon, which is a serious concern with the hammer of climate change hanging over all our heads."

Plague

Plague has caused severe population declines.

Grants & Funding

North America

USA

Texas

• Nongame Grants and Research "Funds to conduct research or conservation activities on federal/state listed species or Species of Greatest Conservation Need are available periodically through Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's Wildlife Division. External researchers can apply for funds through the Conservation License Plate Grant Program, State Wildlife Grants, and/or Traditional Section 6 Grants. Projects funded through these programs assist in the conservation and recovery of listed species and inform evaluations of the status of Species of Greatest Conservation Need."