Investigating the distribution of prairie dogs in an urban landscape

Habitat fragmentation is one of the prevalent threats to biological diversity.  Landscape biogeographic and local habitat characteristics can be important determinants of persistence of wildlife populations in habitat patches in urban landscapes. However, the specifics of which characteristics are most critical to maintaining wildlife populations are not fully known for prairie ecosystems, especially for fragmented urban habitat. This study focuses on black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) along an urban gradient in Denver, Colorado. Prairie dogs have declined precipitously throughout the region and may be an essential part of the prairie ecosystem, making them excellent study subjects. We identified a series of habitat fragments in the fully urbanized areas and south suburbs of Denver, Colorado, both containing and not containing prairie dogs. Local characteristics, including fragment slope, vegetative cover, height and density, and landscape characteristics, including fragment size, age and connectivity, were measured on each fragment. We used likelihood-based methods and AIC to explore which variables most accurately predicted prairie dog occurrence within our study area. Fragment connectivity and percentage cover of litter were the most reliable variables, although all tested variables had some explanatory power. Our study provides the first attempt to model prairie dog occurrence in highly fragmented urban habitat and has important implications for the management and conservation of prairie dogs.