Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Food Habits and Forage Relationships in Western South Dakota
Uresk DW. 1984. Black-Tailed Prairie Dog Food Habits and Forage Relationships in Western South Dakota. Journal of Range Management. 37(4):325-329
Four plants made up 65% of items in fecal pellets of the black-tailed prairie dog in western South Dakota. These important forages in order of significance were sand dropseed, sun sedge, blue grama, and wheatgrasses. Grasses made up 87% of the total diet, while forbs comprised 12%. Shrubs, arthropods, and seeds made up 1% or less of the diet. Preference indices were highest for ring muhly, green needlegrass, and sand dropseed. Relationships of diets to available forage was weak, having an average similarity of 25%; rank-order correlations were nonsignificant, indicating that black-tailed prairie dogs are selective feeders.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Uresk, Daniel
- Units
- BADL
- Keywords
- Animal Behavior, Animal Studies, Black-Tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys ludovicianus), Ecology, Feeding, Food