Burrow Away

Utah Prairie Dog

By: Justin Merrill

https://student.societyforscience.org/article/mating-slows-down-prairie-dogs

ECOLOGY:

http://ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=A04A

     Underground, burrowed away is one of the greatest dirt architects digging tunnels to create its home. And you don't have to go far to see them either, because Prairie Dogs are native to North America. These rodents have five species: the black-tailed prairie dog, the white tailed prairie dog, the Gunninson prairie dog, the Mexican prairie dog and the Utah prairie dog. Specifically, the Utah prairie dog is the smallest of the prairie dogs. The average adult length of an Utah prairie dog is 12-14 inches and weighs about 1-3 pounds. This species is believed to once be apart of the white tailed prairie dogs until it became isolated and genetically different. The Utah prairie dog still has the identifiable white tail, but one thing that makes it unique is the dark mark above their eyes. As a whole, prairie dogs including the Utah prairie dog tend to be herbivores, eating grass, flowers, leaves, and seeds, but prairie dogs do enjoy the occasional munch of a small insect. The Utah prairie dog's habitat is very specific, requiring open habitats for surveillance of predators, and highly vegetated areas that are present all year round. It is also important that the habitat has good soil for the prairie dogs to burrow in, so that they do not collapse and provide the prairie dogs with adequate temperatures. The photo above shows the range and habitat of the Utah prairie dog.

Status:

Today, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) has the Utah prairie dog listed as threatened, due primarily to habitat loss and fragmentation, plague, unauthorized take, and climate change. Below is a video taken by Fox News that describes some issues that Utah citizens have with the prairie dog. These issues are what lead to the Utah prairie dog being threatened.

Back in June 4th 1973, the Utah prairie dog was enlisted as an endangered species by the ESA and a recovery plan was put into motion. Due to this plan, the Utah prairie dog was moved to threatened in 1984, which is a remarkable accomplishment. In 2012,they finally finished the final revised recovery plan which started in 1991. Today, with this new recovery plan, the goal is to delist the Utah prairie dog from the ESA list so that the species can thrive. As stated in the video, the prairie dog is a keystone species to prairie habitats, since they create homes for species and are a substantial prey. It is important to accomplish certain criteria before delisting a species from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife. Some of these are achieving at least 5,000 acres of protected habitat, having a population size of at least 2,000 prairie dogs in each protected habitat. As well as having management teams ready to respond to threats or diseases. Educating the population around the habitats is very important as well, so that people understand the importance of this species. This education would be to prevent further issues like the ones stated in the above video.

Actions required for recovery:

1. Have new and up-to-date information about locations of Utah prairie dogs, and there habitat.
2. Protect the habitat acres so that they have sufficient land to thrive
3. Reduce the effects of diseases and illness through research
4. In case of natural disturbances or disasters, maintain plans to rescue the Utah prairie dogs
5. Continue the relocation of the prairie dogs to more suitable habitats without breaking protocol
6. Create a public awareness program to help educate humans on this issue and hopefully create a better outlook on prairie dogs 
7. Create models to help identify and remove threats to the prairie dogs existence and be able to respond adequately to these issues when they arise
8. Enable surveillance to coerce efficiency in the recovery plan

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service created an expenditure for the above actions  in order to break down the estimated cost of each action and the total recovery.

http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/utprairiedog/2012MarchRevisedRecoveryPlan_Final.pdf

With all this in consideration, it is estimated that the Utah prairie dog will be fully recovered by the year 2042, but this is just an estimate with lots of unknowns that can change not only this date, but also the entire recovery plan.

So What Can You Do?

• Encourage others to become more aware of human affects on species, the better educated we are the better we can help our planet.
• Specifically, if you feel inclined you can write a letter to the Utah government to encourage them in protecting the prairie dog since it is such an important species in its habitat.
• Also donating and supporting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will help all endangered and threatened species.

Works Cited

Map of Utah. Digital image. Environmental Conservation Online System. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2015. http://ecos.fws.gov/tess_public/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=A04A.

"Utah Prairie Dog." Endangered Species: Mountain-Prairie Region: U.S. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 6 Nov. 2013. Web. 30 Nov. 2015. http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/utprairiedog/.

The Utah Prairie Dog Menace. Fox News, 26 June 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2015. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/06/26/endangered-prairie-dog-outnumber-residents-in-utah-town/.

"Utah Prairie Dog." (n.d.): n. pag. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Mar. 2012. Web. 30 Nov. 2015. http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/mammals/utprairiedog/2012MarchRevisedRecoveryPlan_Final.pdf.

Utah prairie dog standing up. Digital image. Student Science. N.p., 13 Oct. 2006. Web. 30 Nov. 2015. https://student.societyforscience.org/article/mating-slows-down-prairie-dogs.

The Giant Kangaroo Rat

By Hannah McKay

The Giant Kangaroo Rat or Dipodomys Ingens is an endemic species to California and can be found along the Southwestern border of the San Joaquin Valley. It is a small mammal about 45 cm in length (including tail) with longer hind legs made for jumping.  The main habitat for this mammal is grasslands with sparse shrubs on shallow slopes.

Certain attributes of how this species interacts with the environment actually make it a keystone species for the area. The Giant Kangaroo Rat cuts down vegetation in its habitat and eats the seeds of plants. The seed clippings provide the soil with nutrients and in turn create a prime ecosystem for other endemic species like the San Joaquin Kit Fox and the Blunt Nosed Leopard Lizard.

http://lpfw.org/ourregion/wildlife/kangaroo-rat/

The Giant Kangaroo Rat mainly eats the plant leaves and seeds and often burrows in the sand of its habitat. Their reproductive season runs from January to May and gestation time is around 1 month. Reproduction is highest when there is sufficient food and space.

The kangaroo rat is also most active 2 hours after it gets dark.

The historical range of the Giant Kangaroo Rat was from “Merced County south to the base of the Tehachapi Mountain in Kern County, and west to eastern San Luis Obispo County and extreme northern Santa Barbara County.” The Giant Kangaroo Rat can now be found in 6 main areas. These include:

1.     Kings County

2.     San Juan Creek Valley (SLO County)

3.     San Benito Counties

4.     Kern County

5.     Carrizo Plain (SLO County)

6.     Cuyama valley (Santa Barbara/SLO)

                  http://naturemappingfoundation.org/natmap/maps/CA_maphtml/m106.html

The Giant Kangaroo Rat lives in fragmented populations so within these larger regions there are smaller isolated populations within.  Steep hills or human made barriers keep populations apart. Severely fragmented populations could contribute to the populations not growing in size.

The Giant Kangaroo Rat was listed as endangered on 9/30/1998.

Causes of listing and major threats:

The main threat to the Giant Kangaroo Rat is habitat destruction and loss. The habitat that the Giant Kangaroo Rat needs is being transitioned into land used primarily for agriculture. Additionally, the land is being used for industrial use or extraction of resources for energy use. The use of land for agriculture has been decreasing over the years, but use for oil fields is on the rise. This creates loss and fragmentation of the habitat for this species.  The loss of over 90% of the Giant Kangaroo Rat’s habitat has occurred.

An additional threat to the species comes in the form of rodenticide. It was used in California for the California Ground Squirrel and other kangaroo rat species, but is negatively affecting the populations of the Giant Kangaroo Rat.

Recovery Plan:

The main goal of the recovery plan is to protect the remaining habitat and populations of the Kangaroo Rat and attempt to stop further destruction of habitat for this species.

To go about this, proper land use needs to be established. Private Property where existing populations occur is taken and turned into a protected area to stop cultivation and use of rodenticide. Additionally the use of livestock grazing where it could help to restore habitat will be used. There will also be more protection on the US Dept. of Energy Naval petroleum reserves. 

The recovery plan also includes continuation of research to find out the optimal habitat conditions for this species and how best to restore habitat that was converted to farmland.  The populations will also be monitored to see how they react to catastrophes and if the recovery plan is working.

The population and habitat will be monitored annually for ten years and then afterwards at 5-yr intervals using trapping as well as aerial counting. Researchers can use the shape of the perfect circles the Giant Kangaroo Rat makes when cutting down vegetation to identify where the populations are occurring.

Recovery can be achieved when the three largest populations are managed, the existing habitat is protected, and we understand the best habitat conditions.

The best action that can be taken to help with this recovery is to spread the word about the Giant Kangaroo Rat in order to ensure that California stays on top of their recovery plan and private landowners do not do things to harm the environment of this species.

Works Cited:

Linzey, A.V. & NatureServe (Williams, D.F. & Hammerson, G.). 2008. Dipodomys ingens. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T6678A12794494.  26 November 2015.

"Giant Kangaroo Rat-Endangered Animals List-Our Endangered Animals." Giant Kangaroo Rat-Endangered Animals List-Our Endangered Animals | KONICA MINOLTA. Konica Minolta, n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2015.

"Recovery Plan of Species in San Joaquin Valley." SpringerReference (2011): n. pag. Web. .

Novey, Levi. "Giant Kangaroo Rat Will Be First Endangered Species Monitored from Space." Planet Save. Important Media, 22 Dec. 2008. Web.

"Giant Kangaroo Rat." Environmental Conservation Online System. US Fish and Wildlife, n.d. Web.