Optimizing habitat location for black-tailed prairie dogs in southwestern South Dakota

Abstract

A spatial optimization model was formulated and used to maximize black-tailed prairie dog populations in the Badlands National Park and the Buffalo Gap National Grassland in South Dakota. The choice variables involved the strategic placement of limited additional protected habitat. Population dynamics were captured in formulations that reflected exponential population growth combined with the recalcitrant dispersal behavior of this social mammal that is important to many other species. The model results are compared to a previous paper which modeled the black-footed ferret, an aggressive disperser that is dependent upon prairie dogs for food and shelter.