A Reevaluation of the Role of Prairie Dogs in Great Plains Grasslands
A Reevaluation of the Role of Prairie Dogs in Great Plains Grasslands
复制标题
草原土拨鼠在大平原草原中的作用的重新评估
DOI：
10.1111/j.1523-1739.1998.97469.x
复制
发表时间：
1998
影响因子：
6.3
通讯作者：
P. Stapp
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
P. Stapp
最近的科学文献和大众媒体上的文章都主张联邦保护草原土拨鼠（Cynomys ludovicianus），因为它们是北美草原的关键物种。然而，对已发表研究的批判性评估表明，我们对土拨鼠对其他动物影响的了解可能比这些文章所暗示的更加有限和模棱两可。此外，草原土拨鼠居住的草原类型的放牧和干扰的反应的差异表明，草原土拨鼠可能会影响这些系统的植被和动物群不同，但我们知道他们在许多草原的生态作用。未来的研究可能会提供令人信服的证据，证明土拨鼠对草原生态系统有不成比例的巨大而独特的影响，但将土拨鼠描述为整个大平原草原的关键物种可能还为时过早。尽管几十年的兴趣和研究的影响，这一引人注目的和有影响力的物种，在我们的知识的草原土拨鼠的生态大差距持续存在，并保证额外的研究。
Recent articles in the scientific literature and popular press have argued for federal protection for prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) based on their role as a keystone species in North American grasslands. A critical evaluation of published studies, however, reveals that our knowledge of the effects of prairie dogs on other animals may be more limited and equivocal than these articles suggest. Moreover, differences in responses to grazing and disturbance of the types of grasslands inhabited by prairie dogs suggest that prairie dogs may affect the vegetation and fauna of these systems differently, yet we know little about their ecological role in many grasslands. Future research may provide convincing evidence that prairie dogs have disproportionately large, unique effects on prairie ecosystems, but it may be premature to characterize prairie dogs as keystone species in grasslands throughout the Great Plains. Despite decades of interest in and study of the effects of this conspicuous and influential species, large gaps in our knowledge of the ecology of prairie dogs persist and warrant additional research.