Work

Interactions between prairie dogs and arthropods in grassland ecosystems: a review and research gaps

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Prairie dogs ( Cynomys spp.) are an important component of grassland ecosystems of North America where they can alter vegetation composition/structure and physical attributes of grassland habitats through their feeding and burrowing behavior. Impacts of prairie dog presence on many wildlife and plant taxa have been widely studied but research on prairie dog interactions with arthropods has been much scarcer. Due to the importance of many arthropods supplying various ecosystem services (e.g. pollination, pest control, etc.), an understanding of how prairie dogs potentially alter arthropod composition is warranted. Here we conducted a review of prairie dog interactions with arthropods compiling data from 50 sources, where we highlight three main relationships with arthropods: 1) arthropods living within prairie dog burrows, 2) arthropod consumption by prairie dogs, and 3) impacts on arthropod communities via habitat modifications by prairie dog feeding and construction of burrows. Most research connecting prairie dogs and arthropods was completed on the black‐tailed prairie dog Cynomys ludovicianus (68% of all sources), with very few studies conducted on the Utah and Mexican prairie dogs (6% of all studies). Prairie dogs do consume some arthropods and greatly impact various arthropod taxa within grassland ecosystems. Additionally, many arthropods use prairie dog burrow systems for shelter or permanent homes but these arthropods were infrequently studied. Overall, prairie dogs have potential to increase regional diversity (beta diversity) of arthropods by creating heterogeneity within the prairie landscape but more research is needed to elucidate how arthropod groups respond to habitat alterations caused by prairie dogs.

Source: Wildlife Biology

DOI: 10.1002/wlb3.01743

Authors: Joshua W. Campbell, Alexandra Tsalickis, Ellen A. R. Welti, Itai Namir