... As a keystone species for the prairies, entire ecosystems rely on … Over 160 native birds and animals depend for food and shelter upon the rich ecosystem prairie dogs create, like ocean fish depend on coral reefs. However, this is the first study that explicitly quantifies the effect of prairie dogs on specific ecosystem services. The genus name Cynonyms derives from the Greek for “mouse dog”. Now due to the intrusion of man, this wonderful creature's populations have been dramatically reduced. Its numbers used to be so great that Lewis and Clark on their journey up the Missouri River noted that the animal "appears in infinite numbers". Prairie dogs play a vital role in maintaining the prairie ecosystem. Robert Bennetts / NPS. Prairie dogs perform an important part in the ecosystem They offer food for from BUSINESS 102 at Rongo University College All in all, prairie dogs are amazing animals, and should be protected!!! The prairie dog is one of the most important species in the American prairie. Prairie dogs support key regional socio-economic activities and are therefore directly related to human well-being. Soil Other animals Air ... Each ecosystem has its own particular climate. Prairie root systems are drought resistant, hold soils in place, and absorb water. When people think about endangered or threatened ecosystems, often the Amazon rainforest or the Great Barrier Reef come to mind. The name Prairie dog was given due to their habitat (prairies/grasslands) and their warning calls which sound like barks. The mistaken perception that prairie dogs and cattle could not … Grazing was an integral part of the prairie ecosystem and increased the growth of prairie plants. There’s another, less well-known yet very important ecosystem that’s endangered – the Great American Prairie. Without prairie dogs, not only will there be 1 more animal that are extinct, the food web will be broken, and ferrets, an already endangered species, will not have ANY protection against other predators, there will be … Prairie dogs enrich and aerate the soil by digging burrows and adding fertilizer — their own manure and urine. They're ecologically important. Prairie dogs are keystone species. Black-tailed prairie dogs are so important because they are a keystone species of the prairie. gard alone, one could argue that prairie dogs play impor-tant if not keystone roles in many prairie ecosystems.” Of note is a recent paper documenting that mesquite (Prosopis ing that 9 of the species depended on prairie dogsspp.) Although that has changed over the last century with their decimation, prairie dogs still help to sustain many other vertebrate species on the prairie today. At least nine species of wildlife depend on prairie dogs, another 20 opportunistically use prairie dog colonies and an additional 117 wildlife species likely benefit from prairie dog colonies to meet their biological needs. WHEREAS, prairie dogs (black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Mexican, and Utah) are native inhabitants of the grasslands of North America and, as a group, have been continuously declining throughout their range so that their continued existence and the existence of the associated grassland ecosystem …