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A disturbance triangle: The case for the interactive role of prairie dogs with fire and ungulate grazing in the Great Plains
Author
Duchardt, CJ
Porensky, LM
Hennig, JD
Augustine, DJ
Publisher
XII International Rangeland Congress
Publication Year
2025
Body

Global biodiversity declines have been hastened by the suppression of once-widespread disturbance regimes. In recent decades, restoration of the fire-grazing interaction has helped address these declines in the North American Great Plains. Conversely, relatively little attention has been paid to another historically ubiquitous disturbance agent--the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus). While some research exists on the interaction between large ungulates and prairie dogs, scant work recognizes the triangle of historical and current interactions among large ungulates, fire, and prairie dogs, and research on interaction between the latter two disturbances is especially rare. Upon reviewing the literature, 34 sources discussed the fire-prairie dog interaction, but only one empirically tested the direct effect of prairie dogs on fire. Despite this research gap, historical fire patterns, current fire management activities, and unpublished data indicate prairie dogs likely reduce wildfire spread and/or intensity. We advocate for a paradigm shift in Great Plains rangeland management that considers prairie dogs as the third corner of a "disturbance triangle," and further exploration of these more complex disturbance interactions worldwide

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Additional Information
This paper is part of the larger XII International Rangelands Congress Proceedings. Page Numbers: 2227-2231. Theme: Hosted session / Promoting pyric herbivory and mixed species grazing for enhancing livestock production from rangelands in the Great Plains – An integrated research–education–extension endeavor
ISSN
978-0-646-72121-7
Conference Name
International Rangeland Congress
Collection
International Rangelands Congress
Keywords
Biodiversity
Burrowing mammal
Grassland
Pyric-herbivory
Rangeland