Prairie Dogs

Importance / Issues

Badlands NP and Scotts Bluff NM listed this as a high priority. Changes in black-tailed prairie dogs would have large impacts on vegetation and soil structure, as well as on two species reintroduced to Badlands NP that depend (black-footed ferrets) or prey frequently (swift foxes) on prairie dogs (Miller et al. 2000, Kotliar 2006).

Management is controversial (Hoogland 2006), so managers need to track changes in areas occupied. Other NGPN parks with prairie dogs have adequate monitoring.

Monitoring Parks :

Badlands NP

Devils Tower NM

Scotts Bluff NM

Theodore Roosevelt NP

Wind Cave NP

Preliminary Monitoring Objectives

1. Determine status and trends in selected characteristics of animal populations and communities of high management concern to individual parks.

Potential Measures

Colony area and distribution

Expected Approach

Ground surveys supplemented with satellite imagery

Protocol Development & Status

Not Started

Status & Trends

Status and Trends will be posted once monitoring has begun.

Contact Information

John Wrede
Biological Science Technician
Northern Great Plains Inventory and Monitoring Program
U.S. National Park Service
231 East St. Joseph Street
Rapid City, SD 57701
(605) 341-2815
John_Wrede@nps.gov