Associated data for: Disease and weather induce rapid shifts in a rangeland ecosystem mediated by a keystone species (Cynomys ludovicianus)

Habitat loss and changing climate have direct impacts on native species
but can also interact with disease pathogens to influence wildlife
communities. In the North American Great Plains, black-tailed prairie dogs
(Cynomys ludovicianus) are a keystone species that create important
grassland habitat for numerous species and serve as prey for predators,
but lethal control driven by agricultural conflict has severely reduced
their abundance. Novel disease dynamics caused by epizootic plague
(Yersinia pestis) within prairie dog colonies have further reduced prairie
dog abundances, in turn destabilizing associated wildlife communities. We
capitalized on a natural experiment — collecting data on prairie dog
distributions, vegetation structure, avian abundance, and mesocarnivore
and ungulate occupancy before (2015–2017) and after (2018–2019) a plague
event in northeastern Wyoming, USA. Plague decimated black-tailed prairie
dog populations in what was then the largest extant colony complex,
reducing colony cover in the focal area from over 10,000 ha to less than
50 ha. We documented dramatic declines in mesocarnivore occupancy and
raptor abundance post-plague, with probability of occupancy or abundance
approaching zero in species that rely on prairie dogs for a high
proportion of their diet (e.g., ferruginous hawk [Buteo regalis], American
badger [Taxidea taxus], and swift fox [Vulpes velox]). Following the
plague outbreak, abnormally high precipitation in 2018 hastened vegetation
recovery from prairie dog disturbance on colonies where constant herbivory
had formerly maintained shortgrass structure necessary for certain
colony-associates. As a result, we observed large shifts in avian
communities on former prairie dog colonies, including near-disappearance
of mountain plovers (Charadrius montanus) and increases in mid-grass
associated songbirds (e.g., lark bunting [Calamospiza melanocorys]). Our
research highlights how precipitation can interact with disease-induced
loss of a keystone species to induce drastic and rapid shifts in wildlife
communities. Although grassland taxa co-evolved with high spatiotemporal
variation, fragmentation of remaining North American rangelands paired
with higher-than-historical variability in climate and disease dynamics
are likely to destabilize these systems in the future.