A Decision Support Tool for Prairie Dog and Cattle Coexistence in a Changing Climate

Principal Investigator: Imtiaz Rangwala

Dates

Release Date: 2023
Start Date: 2024-05-31
End Date: 2026-05-30

Summary

Project Overview Prairie dog colonies in North America’s Central Grasslands undergo cycles of collapse and recovery caused by the non-native sylvatic plague, and each phase of the cycle negatively affects wildlife or livestock. Researchers supported by this North Central-CASC project will develop a decision-support web tool for users to predict prairie dog colony dynamics under changing climatic conditions to help optimize management strategies of wildlife and cattle. Project Summary Prairie dogs are crucial to North America’s Central Grasslands, creating habitat for other wildlife by digging burrows and clipping vegetation, and serving as a key food source for many predators. However, the sylvatic plague, a non-native disease with [...]

Summary

Project Overview
Prairie dog colonies in North America’s Central Grasslands undergo cycles of collapse and recovery caused by the non-native sylvatic plague, and each phase of the cycle negatively affects wildlife or livestock. Researchers supported by this North Central-CASC project will develop a decision-support web tool for users to predict prairie dog colony dynamics under changing climatic conditions to help optimize management strategies of wildlife and cattle.

Project Summary
Prairie dogs are crucial to North America’s Central Grasslands, creating habitat for other wildlife by digging burrows and clipping vegetation, and serving as a key food source for many predators. However, the sylvatic plague, a non-native disease with over 99% mortality in prairie dogs leads to sudden population die-offs followed by several years of recovery. While wildlife that depend on prairie dogs for food and habitat are negatively affected when populations collapse, the recovery period can cause conflicts with livestock producers, as prairie dogs decrease the available vegetation for grazing cattle.

Researchers supported by this project will create an interactive web-based tool that can be used by managers and stakeholders for decision support, as the tool predicts where and when prairie dog colony growth and collapses are likely to occur under changing climatic conditions. This should allow managers to strategically reduce the likelihood of undesirable outcomes for wildlife and livestock. Additionally, the interactive tool will help users determine the best management approaches to achieve their specific goals and will evaluate different management strategies with a cost analysis assessment.

This project will involve a diverse group of stakeholders from state and federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, and Tribal Nations to co-produce the tool. A decision support tool is much needed to facilitate co-existence of the prairie dog ecosystem with local communities and livestock producers, especially under an increasingly uncertain and changing climate.

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Contacts

Principal Investigator :: Imtiaz Rangwala
Co-Investigator :: Ana Davidson, David Augustine, Gabriel Barrile, Kevin Shoemaker, Cynthia Hartway, Courtney Duchardt
Cooperator/Partner :: Dillon Moes, Daniel Kinka, Brooke Moore, Ashley Merkel, Eddie Childers, Phillip Dobesh, Courtney Tomlinson, Dave Pellatz
Funding Agency :: North Central CASC
CMS Group :: Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASC) Program

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Prairie_Dog-1-.jpg “A prairie dog stands on alert. Public Domain.”		339.21 KB	image/jpeg

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A Decision Support Tool for Prairie Dog and Cattle Coexistence in a Changing Climate

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