David Pellatz News Today

When an outbreak of sylvatic plague decimated black-tailed prairie dog numbers in the Thunder Basin National Grassland in 2017, researchers saw an opportunity f

A study, conducted from 2015-19 in the Thunder Basin National Grassland, maybe the first to specifically examine the multispecies impacts of a wide-scale plague

This study, conducted from 2015-19 in the Thunder Basin National Grassland, maybe the first to specifically examine the multispecies impacts of a wide-scale plague outbreak, which reduced the area covered by prairie dog colonies from nearly 25,000 acres to only about 125 acres in the study area. The 2017 outbreak was followed by abnormally high precipitation in 2018, which caused vegetation to grow quickly and taller without the presence of prairie dogs.