Date
2015
Abstract
Prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) are burrowing rodents considered to be ecosystem engineers and keystone species of the central grasslands of North America. Yet, prairie dog populations have declined by an estimated 98% throughout their historic range. This dramatic decline has resulted in the widespread loss of their important ecological role throughout this grassland system. The 92,060 ha Sevilleta NWR in central New Mexico includes more than 54,000 ha of native grassland. Gunnison’s prairie dogs (C. gunnisoni) were reported to occupy ~15,000 ha of what is now the SNWR during the 1960’s, prior to their systematic eradication. In 2010, we collaborated with local agencies and conservation organizations to restore the functional role of prairie dogs to the grassland system. Gunnison’s prairie dogs were reintroduced to a site that was occupied by prairie dogs 40 years ago. This work is part of a larger, long-term study where we are studying the ecological effects of prairie dogs as they re-colonize the grassland ecosystem. With this project, we would like to further investigate the impact that Gunnison’s prairie dogs have on the landscape. Gunnison’s prairie dog monitoring data has been collected from the beginning of the reintroduction project, but little information has been collected on how grassland species respond to the sudden presence of prairie dogs on the refuge.This project will help determine if the prairie dog reintroduction has had positive impacts on the grassland ecosystem. Prairie dogs benefit grasslands in many ways, but their role as ecosystem engineers directly impacts other species by creating new habitat that would not be present without prairie dogs. We have documented physical landscape changes, but we have not specifically documented benefits to other grassland species. This work will help determine if the reintroduced prairie dog populations on Sevilleta NWR are now acting as a keystone species in a grassland ecosystem by monitoring small mammal populations to see if species richness, diversity, and density are different on prairie dog colonized areas versus non-colonized areas.
Handle
http://hdl.handle.net/1928/29973.2
Other Identifier
SEV239
Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (KNB) Identifier
knb-lter-sev.239.210383
Document Type
Dataset
Rights
Data Policies: This dataset is released to the public and may be freely downloaded. Please keep the designated Contact person informed of any plans to use the dataset. Consultation or collaboration with the original investigators is strongly encouraged. Publications and data products that make use of the dataset must include proper acknowledgement of the Sevilleta LTER. Datasets must be cited as in the example provided. A copy of any publications using these data must be supplied to the Sevilleta LTER Information Manager. By downloading any data you implicitly acknowledge the LTER Data Policy (http://www.lternet.edu/data/netpolicy.html).
Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/a2d497b339d504ffa5175ed6a4f88d62
Temporal coverage
2013-12-12 - 2014-06-27
Spatial coverage
Location: The study area is about 655 ha (~2.5 sq mi) in size and approximately 1 km due west from the foothills of the Los Pinos Mountains. The study is also just north of the Blue Grama Core Site.The center of plot B is: -106.628 34.333The center of plot D is: -106.636 34.324Soils: sandy loam and sandy clay loam, History: historically large prairie dog colonies inhabited the study area, siteid: 49
DOI
doi:10.6073/pasta/a2d497b339d504ffa5175ed6a4f88d62
Permanent URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/a2d497b339d504ffa5175ed6a4f88d62
Recommended Citation
Baker, Stephanie (2015): Gunnison's Prairie Dog Restoration Experiment (GPDREx): Small Mammal Mark-Recapture Population Assessment within Grasslands at the Sevilleta National Widlife Refuge, New Mexico. Long Term Ecological Research Network. http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/a2d497b339d504ffa5175ed6a4f88d62
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sev239_REUrodenttrapping_20150105.txt (54 kB)
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Comments
This dataset was originally published on the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network Data Portal, https://portal.lternet.edu, and potentially via other repositories or portals as described. The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) of the source data package is doi:10.6073/pasta/a2d497b339d504ffa5175ed6a4f88d62, and may be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.6073/pasta/a2d497b339d504ffa5175ed6a4f88d62. Metadata and files included in this record mirror as closely as possible the source data and documentation, with the provenance metadata and quality report generated by the LTER portal reproduced here as '*-provenance.xml' and *-report.html' files, respectively.