A Survey of Reintroduced Gunnison’s Prairie Dog Impacts on Chihuahuan Desert GrasslandEvan Hewitt

Gunnison’s Prairie Dog• Cynomys gunnisoni (GPD) is a

graminivorous, social, semi-fossorial mammal related to squirrels

• Species exterminated across much of it’s native range, recently reintroduced on Sevilleta (2010)

• Prairie dogs are a keystone species

• Affect species composition, diversity, height, structure, biomass, and productivity

Purpose of Research• Investigate the impact of prairie dogs on vegetation. Across

the control and treatment plots, will surveys indicate a significant change in biomass between plots? What about species diversity?

• Circumstances, behavior and ecology of GPD differs significantly from the more commonly studied black tailed prairie dog (C. ludovicianus).

Chihuahuan Desert Grassland

Field Methods (Cont’d)

Results – Species Richness

A B C D0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Species Richness

Species Richness

T-Testp-value = 0.197692221No significant difference between treatments on species richness.

Results – Total Biomass

82.6%

3.5%

13.9%

All Plots Biomass

GrassesForbsSucculents and Shrubs

95.7%

4.0% 0.2%

Control 56.8% of Total

GrassesForbsSucculents and Shrubs

65.4%

2.8%

31.8%

Treatment 43.2% of Total

GrassesForbsSucculents and Shrubs

Cover T-Test 0.000517437Significant p valueBiomass T-Test 0.363673826 Not Significant p value

Interpretation• The data collected for this study does not readily reflect the

impact of GPD on vegetation. • Temporal scale, methodological• Climate, phenology

Future• Yearly and seasonal data collection• Augment quadrat sampling with methods such as transects

with a greater spatial extent

Acknowledgements• Partnership between NSF, USFWS, UNM that made this

opportunity possible.• Amaris Swann, Jon Erz, Stephanie Baker • Fellow undergraduate researchers