“Despite being essential to a healthy grassland ecosystem, prairie dogs are not getting the protection they deserve,” said Taylor Jones, Endangered Species Advocate for WildEarth Guardians. Scientists consider prairie dogs keystone species. Like the keystone that supports an archway, prairie dogs support whole ecosystems. Prairie dogs fertilize and aerate the soil, reduce noxious weeds, and clip the top parts of forage, creating a shorter but more nutrient-rich blade of grass. Large herbivores including elk and bison often prefer to graze on prairie dog towns. Prairie dog burrows provide habitat for numerous reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates. Prairie dogs are an important food source for a wide variety of species including hawks, eagles, coyotes, foxes, and badgers.South Dakota: F. Montana: D. Wyoming: D-
2/2/12
SD receives 'F' in prairie dog preservation
Wild Earth Guardians releases Report from the Burrow on Groundhog Day:
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3 comments:
When I look at the acres and acres of prairie that have been transformed into bare dirt as home to a 'dog town, I find it really difficult to believe that they are in numerical danger.
I'm very pro-environment, so this feels like a strange position to be in, but what I see does not match up with what I read.
What I have seen on the Pine Ridge Res does not look like it could be good for the soil in any way. Dust blows, topsoil goes, grass is in already gone. I don't know how the dogs can continue to live there. It appears to be sustenance-free. I suppose they move on to another location and devastate it.
I'm not against pdogs, but in much smaller numbers.
South Dakotans are so desperate to survive in a chemical toilet they kill the predators that control prairie dog populations.
Why Minnesota, Ms. Bishop?
Canada's tar sands are killing caribou causing wolves to prey on livestock so more poison and bullets.
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