Blacktail Prairie Dogs, Desert Cottontails and Cattle Trophic Relations on Shortgrass Range

Abstract

The trophic relations among blacktail prairie dogs, desert cottontails, and cattle were determined among three dogtowns at the Central Plains Experimental Range near Nunn, Colo. Sedges were the most important food of prairie dogs and cottontails and the second most important food of cattle on an annual basis. There was a high percentage similarity in the diets of the three herbivores studied; and they consumed large percentages of sedges and grass. The amount of aboveground herbage eaten and made unavailable because of soil disturbances by prairie dogs and cottontails was about 24% of the total potential annual production.