Behavioral Ecology and Population Biology of prairie Dogs

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ABSTRACT PI: Hoogland Proposal Number: 9628887 Because they radically modify the vegetation and are the primary food for numerous predators, prairie dogs are important members of the ecosystem of Western North America. However, shooting, poisoning, and destruction of habitat have drastically reduced prairie dog populations, and two species are threatened with extinction. Information necessary for the conservation of prairie dogs will result from the proposed research. In certain prairie dog populations, mothers sometimes kill the unweaned offspring of other mothers. Such infanticide sometimes accounts for the elimination of as many as 22% of all Litters born. Research to investigate infanticide will be conducted with several prairie dog populations. Prairie dog colonies crash after outbreaks of bubonic plaque. Information on this important source of mortality will result from tracking of colonies that were ravaged by plaque in 1995.