Nature’s Environmental EngineersHere’s a program from our archives.ambience: prairie dogs yipping and barkingWe’re listening to what Lewis and Clark called “barking squirrels.” We know them as prairie dogs, and this week, below ground, it’s mating season for these Great Plains rodents. Above ground, prairie dogs are engaging in a type of environmental engineering. I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet. It’s been estimated that at one time prairie dog colonies in America covered nearly one million acres underground. James Loughry, an animal behaviorist, tells us that the prairie dog’s underground excavations make them a major player in their ecosystem. Loughry: In the high plains, prairie dogs are really an integral feature of the ‘balance of nature,’ as it were. They provide habitat for a variety of animals. So that, without prairie dogs, a lot of the plains ecosystem would fall on hard times.”For years, ranchers have thought of prairie dogs as a nuisance that takes grazing land away from their cattle. The fact is that prairie dogs might actually improve grazing, by systematically removing plants that hinder the growth of grass. Scientist Jake Weltzin described to us one experiment he performed to investigate the prairie dog’s effect on mesquite, a shrub that competes with the grasses. Weltzin: We wanted to find out whether or not prairie dogs could actually prevent mesquite from encroaching onto the landscape. In order to determine whether prairie dogs would actually attack young mesquite, we took cuttings from mesquite and set them on the prairie dog colonies to simulate young mesquite trees growing there. We’d come back the next day, and what we found is that prairie dogs would clip those things right off. If it was live mesquite that was actually growing there, that would kill it. So what we would find, and what we hypothesized was that prairie dogs would prevent mesquite from developing from a sapling into a mature tree.We’ve been listening to a program from our archives. If you want to hear more, check out our podcast. I’m Jim Metzner.
Nature's Environmental Engineers
Constantly refining their habitat, prairie dogs play a key role in their ecosystem.
Air Date:02/19/2020
Scientist:
Transcript:
Nature's Environmental EngineersHere's a program from our archives.ambience: prairie dogs yipping and barkingWe're listening to what Lewis and Clark called "barking squirrels." We know them as prairie dogs, and this week, below ground, it's mating season for these Great Plains rodents. Above ground, prairie dogs are engaging in a type of environmental engineering. I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet. It's been estimated that at one time prairie dog colonies in America covered nearly one million acres underground. James Loughry, an animal behaviorist, tells us that the prairie dog's underground excavations make them a major player in their ecosystem. Loughry: In the high plains, prairie dogs are really an integral feature of the 'balance of nature,' as it were. They provide habitat for a variety of animals. So that, without prairie dogs, a lot of the plains ecosystem would fall on hard times."For years, ranchers have thought of prairie dogs as a nuisance that takes grazing land away from their cattle. The fact is that prairie dogs might actually improve grazing, by systematically removing plants that hinder the growth of grass. Scientist Jake Weltzin described to us one experiment he performed to investigate the prairie dog's effect on mesquite, a shrub that competes with the grasses. Weltzin: We wanted to find out whether or not prairie dogs could actually prevent mesquite from encroaching onto the landscape. In order to determine whether prairie dogs would actually attack young mesquite, we took cuttings from mesquite and set them on the prairie dog colonies to simulate young mesquite trees growing there. We'd come back the next day, and what we found is that prairie dogs would clip those things right off. If it was live mesquite that was actually growing there, that would kill it. So what we would find, and what we hypothesized was that prairie dogs would prevent mesquite from developing from a sapling into a mature tree.We've been listening to a program from our archives. If you want to hear more, check out our podcast. I'm Jim Metzner.