![\"Researchers](\"https:\/\/imgs.mongabay.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/03\/07105804\/Researchers-attach-a-new-tracker-to-a-prairie-dog_Image-courtesy-of-Brett-Kuxhausen-Smithsonians-National-Zoo-and-Conservation-Biology-Institute.jpg\" "\\"\\""){kind=tracking}
<\/a>\u201cUsing all that data, we are able to get a bearing on what the animal is doing, and reconstruct their trajectories at a very fine scale,\u201d Hila Shamon, research ecologist at the Smithsonian\u2019s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute who is part of the research, told Mongabay in a video interview. \u201cFor example, the animal started in burrow A and came out of burrow D. If we know those two endpoints, we\u2019re able to reconstruct the trajectory between those two points to see what the animals did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prairie dogs, from the same family of animals as squirrels, are considered a keystone species in grasslands. They create habitats for many other species in the ecosystem. For example, they feed on grass and keep them short, thereby creating suitable breeding grounds for several grassland birds. They\u2019re also a key part of the diets of many species, including black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes), one of the most threatened mammals in North America.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey will not exist if prairie dogs don\u2019t exist,\u201d Shamon said. \u201cWe refer to them as the \u2018Prairie McNuggets\u2019 because they are a food source for carnivores, prey birds and many other species in this ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, prairie dog populations are threatened by the sylvatic plague, an infectious bacterial disease. They\u2019re also often exterminated by farmers who consider them crop-destroying pests. \u201cThey used to be quite abundant across the Great Plains in North America, but very little of their historic range remains today, with small pockets of what used to be a vast population,\u201d Shamon said.<\/p>\n
It was when Shamon and her colleagues started looking into new ways to track prairie dogs that they came across a tracker developed by the company Wildbytes Technologies. The tracker had already been deployed by researchers at Swansea University in the U.K. to monitor penguins and study their foraging habits. Shamon and her colleagues then worked to adapt the trackers to study underground animals.<\/p>\n As part of the initial trials, the researchers collared seven prairie dogs in a controlled environment in a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service facility in Colorado. Later, they deployed the technology in Montana, tagging 23 prairie dogs. Using the data collected, the team created three-dimensional renderings that delineated the animals\u2019 movements and made estimations on where they spent the most time. \u201cThe trials were successful for us because we were able to put the tags out, recapture animals and retrieve all of our collars back, which usually doesn\u2019t happen,\u201d Shamon said.<\/p>\n However, with each tracker gathering about 40 data points per second, data analysis is a huge challenge. With the initial trials concluded, the team is now working to process and analyze the gathered data. Shamon said they\u2019re also working to develop a pipeline that will make the analysis process easier and more efficient.<\/p>\n In the coming months, the team plans to tag more than 100 prairie dogs. Shamon said they also intend to keep them tagged for longer, to allow the collection of more data.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we have more information about their behavior, movements and survival rates, we might be able to improve the management of these species,\u201d she said. \u201cThis technology holds tremendous promise. We\u2019re just going to have to keep pushing it forward and make it more efficient to streamline the entire process.\u201d<\/p>\n