Grassland Ecology and Conservation

Research Task: RB00CNG.20.0
Task Manager: Dean Biggins

Grasslands are arguably one of the most anthropogenically stressed ecosystems of the western United States. The highly endangered black-footed ferret and prairie dogs epitomize grassland mammals of high conservation concern. The Utah prairie dog is a federally listed species, while black-tailed prairie dogs, white-tailed prairie dogs, and Gunnison's prairie dogs all have received attention in the form of listing proposals. Research conducted within this project will focus on these imperiled prairie dog communities and their vertebrate and invertebrate associates, but will not necessarily be limited to those communities. Studies will be driven by the need to better understand ecological relationships among grassland animals, interactions of these animals with their environments, and anthropogenic influences affecting these systems. There will be a continuing emphasis on research with conservation applications.

 For more information contact Dean Biggins

Related Products

Publications

• Information on black-footed ferret biology collected within the framework of ferret conservation
• Use of multi-opening burrow systems by black-footed ferrets
• Black-footed ferrets and recreational shooting influence the attributes of black-tailed prairie dog burrows
• Fine-scale habitat use of reintroduced black-footed ferrets on prairie dog colonies in New Mexico
• Patterns of surface burrow plugging in a colony of black-tailed prairie dogs occupied by black-footed ferrets
• Black-footed ferret digging activity in summer
• Resource selection models are useful in predicting fine-scale distributions of black-footed ferrets in prairie dog colonies
• Mortality of Siberian polecats and black-footed ferrets released onto prairie dog colonies
• Movements and survival of black-footed ferrets associated with an experimental translocation in South Dakota
• Black-footed ferrets and Siberian polecats as ecological surrogates and ecological equivalents
• Interface between black-footed ferret research and operational conservation
• Postbreeding resource selection by adult black-footed ferrets in the Conata Basin, South Dakota
• Black-footed ferret areas of activity during late summer and fall at Meeteetse, Wyoming
• Environmental enrichment affects adrenocortical stress responses in the endangered black-footed ferret
• Vector control improves survival of three species of prairie dogs (Cynomys) in areas considered enzootic for plague
• Prairie dogs as keystone engineers of sagebrush and grassland bird communities in the U.S. and Mexico
• Recovery of the black-footed ferret: progress and continuing challenges--Proceedings of the Symposium on the Status of the Black-footed Ferret and Its Habitat, Fort Collins, Colorado, January 28-29, 2004
• The influence of sylvatic plague on North American wildlife at the landscape level, with special emphasis on black-footed ferret and prairie dog conservation