Skip to main content
Dryad

Potential landscapes for conservation of the black-tailed prairie dog ecosystem

Davidson, Ana1

Published Jan 31, 2025 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.wpzgmsbr5

Data files

Jan 31, 2025 version files 7.65 GB

Abstract

Aim: To identify potential landscapes for the conservation of the black-tailed prairie dog (BTPD) ecosystem, across their historical geographic range within the United States.

Location: Central Grasslands of the United States.

Methods: We used a structured decision analysis approach to identify landscapes with high conservation potential (HCP) for the BTPD ecosystem. Our analysis incorporated ecological, political, and social factors, along with changing climate and land use to maximize long-term conservation potential. We created scenarios that involved current and future projected suitable BTPD habitat, across the BTPD range within the United States. These were our RANGEWIDE scenarios. Additionally, because conservation policies and funding decisions are often made by political entities, we also identified STATE-LEVEL conservation priorities, under both present and projected future climate. Our STATE-LEVEL analysis sought conservation solutions within each of the states’ boundaries only, so do not consider a rangewide perspective.

Results: The landscapes we identified with HCP (top 30% range-wide) represented 22% of the historical distribution of black-tailed prairie dogs and remained strongholds under projected climate change. We provide a suite of HCP area scenarios to help inform different conservation and management interests, including those that consider projected climate change and jurisdictional (state-level) boundaries. STATE-LEVEL conservation priorities differed considerably from RANGEWIDE priorities, under both current and future climate scenarios. The largest difference was among the southern states (Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas), where climate change reduces the conservation priorities across this region more when viewed from a RANGEWIDE perspective than when viewed from a STATE-LEVEL perspective. Additionally, from a RANGEWIDE perspective, the eastern states have fewer areas with HCP compared to the western states within the BTPD range, but when viewed from a STATE-LEVEL perspective there are considerably more areas with HCP. We expected such differences because this question was aimed at understanding the HCP areas within each state, so the analysis was seeking conservation solutions within each of the states’ boundaries. Identifying STATE-LEVEL conservation priorities is important because funding sources and management priorities are often focused at the state-level, and not range-wide. This way, each state has information on conservation priorities within their own jurisdictional boundaries. We suggest each state focus conservation efforts for the BTPD ecosystem in those areas that remain priorities into the future at the STATE-LEVEL, while also considering those priorities identified within their state under the RANGEWIDE perspective.

Main Conclusions: Our findings highlight the large conservation potential for BTPDs and associated species, and the maps we generated can be incorporated into other large-scale, multi-species conservation planning efforts being developed for the Central Grasslands of North America.