Attributes of Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Colonies in Northcentral Montana

Reading, Richard P.; Matchett, Randy

doi:10.2307/3802174

Cited by 41 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Forbs, bare ground and purple threeawn are more abundant on prairie dog colonies, but both noncolonized and colonized areas are dominated by a warm-season shortgrass, blue grama (Winter et al 2002). In contrast, the Phillips County landscape includes greater topographic variability, a diversity of soil types, and off-colony vegetation with tallerstructure, cool-season grasses and sagebrush (Reading and Matchett 1997;Johnson-Nistler et al 2004). These differences, especially the difference in vegetation structure, likely aid prairie dog colonization or expansion into unoccupied grassland on Comanche compared to Phillips County.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Phillips County, most intermingled private land is rangeland, but prairie dogs occur less frequently on private compared to BLM land than expected by chance (Reading and Matchett 1997). In the Comanche landscape, prairie dog colonies are widely distributed on adjacent privately-owned rangeland (Sidle et al 2006), but private land also includes some cropland and fields enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, which are generally unsuitable habitat for prairie dogs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Locations of colony boundaries may be constrained by topography and soil types (e.g. Reading and Matchett 1997), and may shift over time in response to factors such as vegetation height at colony edges (which influences predation risk) and declining forage quantity and quality in the oldest portions of colonies (e.g. Garrett et al 1982;Cincotta 1985).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Vegetation consists of mixed-grass prairie and sagebrush shrubland. Grassland areas are dominated by western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii), blue grama, needle-and-thread (Hesperostipa comata) and green needlegrass (Stipa viridula), and shrub-dominated areas contain big sagebrush (Artemesia tridentata) and greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) (Reading and Matchett 1997). Vegetation of non-colonized grassland has substantially greater abundance of cool-season perennial grasses (western wheatgrass and needle-andthread) and sagebrush than areas colonized by prairie dogs (Johnson-Nistler et al 2004).…”

Section: Comanche National Grassland Coloradomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on slopes derived from a digital elevation model, 76% of the study area is \5°, 16% is 5-10°, and 8% is [10°s lope. Soil types include a combination of deep, welldrained sandy loam-to-clay loam and shallow, welldrained clay-to-silty clay (Reading and Matchett 1997). Climate is continental with mean annual precipitation of 28-32 cm.…”

Section: Comanche National Grassland Coloradomentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatiotemporal dynamics of black-tailed prairie dog colonies affected by plague

Augustine¹,

Matchett

Toombs

et al. 2007

Landscape Ecol

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Black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) are a key component of the disturbance regime in semi-arid grasslands of central North America. Many studies have compared community and ecosystem characteristics on prairie dog colonies to grasslands without prairie dogs, but little is known about landscape-scale patterns of disturbance that prairie dog colony complexes may impose on grasslands over long time periods. We examined spatiotemporal dynamics in two prairie dog colony complexes in southeastern Colorado (Comanche) and northcentral Montana (Phillips County) that have been strongly influenced by plague, and compared them to a complex unaffected by plague in northwestern Nebraska (Oglala). Both plague-affected complexes exhibited substantial spatiotemporal variability in the area occupied during a decade, in contrast to the stability of colonies in the Oglala complex. However, the plague-affected complexes differed in spatial patterns of colony movement. Colonies in the Comanche complex in shortgrass steppe shifted locations over a decade. Only 10% of the area occupied in 1995 was still occupied by prairie dogs in 2006. In 2005 and 2006 respectively, 74 and 83% of the total area of the Comanche complex occurred in locations that were not occupied in 1995, and only 1% of the complex was occupied continuously over a decade. In contrast, prairie dogs in the Phillips County complex in mixed-grass prairie and sagebrush steppe primarily recolonized previously occupied areas after plague-induced colony declines. In Phillips County, 62% of the area occupied in 1993 was also occupied by prairie dogs in 2004, and 12% of the complex was occupied continuously over a decade. Our results indicate that plague accelerates spatiotemporal movement of prairie dog colonies, and have significant implications for The U.S. Government's right to retain a non-exclusive, royaltyfree license in and to any copyright is acknowledged. 123Landscape Ecol (2008) 23:255-267 DOI 10.1007 landscape-scale effects of prairie dog disturbance on grassland composition and productivity. These findings highlight the need to combine landscape-scale measures of habitat suitability with long-term measures of colony locations to understand the role of plague-affected prairie dogs as a grassland disturbance process.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Comanche National Grassland Coloradomentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Comanche National Grassland Coloradomentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatiotemporal dynamics of black-tailed prairie dog colonies affected by plague

Augustine¹,

Matchett

Toombs

et al. 2007

Landscape Ecol

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Disturbance shapes avian communities on a grassland–sagebrush ecotone

Duchardt

Porensky²,

Augustine³

et al. 2018

Ecosphere

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Ecotones, or transitional zones between ecosystems, are often hotspots for biodiversity and targets for conservation. Where the Great Plains meet the sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) steppe, an opportunity exists to conserve habitat for the two most imperiled avian guilds in North America, grassland and shrubsteppe birds. This ecotone creates a unique challenge with respect to the management of disturbance processes, such as fire and grazing, because grassland and sagebrush-shrubland birds respond quite dissimilarly to disturbance. To address this management challenge and maximize conservation opportunities, we examined the responses of grassland and sagebrush bird communities to disturbance at a grasslandsagebrush ecotone in northeast Wyoming, USA. Specifically, we surveyed bird communities on active black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) colonies and burned areas, as well as on paired undisturbed points in 2016 and 2017. Bird community structure varied in response to both the presence and type of disturbance. Although alpha diversity of avian species was highest on undisturbed sites and burned areas, only prairie dog colonies provided breeding habitat for the imperiled shortgrass-obligate mountain plover (Charadrius montanus), and species turnover (beta diversity) was greatest between on-colony and off-colony points. Furthermore, bird communities were shaped by both disturbance-dependent (e.g., disturbance age) and disturbance-independent (e.g., topography and soils) landscape features. Managers must balance the benefits of high species diversity in undisturbed sagebrush with habitat requirements of other imperiled species like the mountain plover. This may entail prioritizing the amount and distribution of disturbances in relation to population goals for species of conservation concern while simultaneously maintaining a mosaic of all three patch types in this landscape.

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