Date of Award:

8-2012

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Wildland Resources

Committee Chair(s)

Terry A. Messmer

Committee

Terry A. Messmer

Committee

Dwayne Elmore

Committee

Brent Bibles

Abstract

Utah prairie dogs have been listed, in some capacity, under the Endangered Species Act since 1972. The lack of suitable habitat, particularly cool season grass cover,
has been identified as the primary factor impeding species recovery. Due to reproduction costs, Utah prairie dogs require a large quantity of cool season grasses. Lack of recovery has also been attributed to poor juvenile survival. Increased resources have been shown to increase weights, which would increase survival through the winter.

Beneficial habitat management techniques for Utah prairie dogs have yet to be determined for the Awapa Plateau recovery area. Utah prairie dogs require a habitat with abundant cool season grasses and few shrubs. Parker Mountain (Awapa Plateau) did not meet the requirements needed for ideal Utah prairie dog habitat. Intensive sheep grazing and herbicide treatments (tebuthiuron) have been shown to decrease the shrub component while increasing the grass and forb component in similar habitats. Both these techniques decreased the cover and height of shrubs on Parker Mountain. Grazing increased forb cover, but neither treatment increased cover of grasses, the most limiting diet component for Utah prairie dogs. Juvenile survival was unable to be determined based on radio transmitter failure.

Checksum

27e8e634c495522f2f2843fc512a35ea

Comments

This work made publicly available electronically on July 30, 2012.

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