A disturbance triangle: The interactive role of prairie dogs with fire and ungulate grazing in the Great Plains

Authors: DUCHARDT, COURTNEY - University Of Arizona; HENNIG, JACOB - University Of Arizona; Porensky, Lauren; FUHLENDORF, SAMUEL - Oklahoma State University; SCASTA, DEREK - University Of Wyoming; DREELIN, ANDREW - Northern Illinois University; BOYCE, ANDREW - Smithsonian Institute; POULTON, VICTORIA - City Of Boulder, Co; Augustine, David

Submitted to: Bioscience
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/16/2025
Publication Date: 8/25/2025
Citation: Duchardt, C., Hennig, J., Porensky, L.M., Fuhlendorf, S., Scasta, D.J., Dreelin, A., Boyce, A., Poulton, V., Augustine, D.J. 2025. A disturbance triangle: The interactive role of prairie dogs with fire and ungulate grazing in the Great Plains. Bioscience. 75(10):881-891. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaf125.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaf125

Interpretive Summary: Rangeland managers have increasingly recognized the interactive role of fire and grazing by large herbivores(e.g. cattle, sheep, bison) in sustaining grasslands and their associated biodiversity in the Great Plains of North America. Black-tailed prairie dogs have also been recognized as having important effects on biodiversity in this region, but few studies have considered how prairie dogs may interact with fire and large herbivores. We developed a conceptual framework for how all 3 of these disturbances interact with one another to influence grassland ecosystems. In particular, we address the interaction between prairie dogs and fire, which has previously received little consideration from rangeland managers. We describe evidence for how prairie dog colonies can expand in response to fires, and also how and when prairie dogs can suppress fire spread and intensity. We suggest that rangeland managers consider prairie dogs, fire and large herbivore grazing as a "triangle" of disturbances that operate interactively rather than individually, and collectively are key to sustaining biodiversity in the region.

Technical Abstract: Global biodiversity declines have been hastened by the suppression of once-widespread disturbance regimes. In recent decades, restoration of the fire-ungulate grazing interaction has helped address these declines in the North American Great Plains in some regions. However, relatively little attention has been paid to another historically ubiquitous disturbance agent in this region -- the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus). While some research exists on the interaction between large ungulates and prairie dogs, scant work recognizes the triangle of historical and current interactions among fire, large ungulates, and prairie dogs. Upon reviewing the literature, 34 sources discussed the fire-prairie dog interaction, but only one empirically tested the direct effect of prairie dogs on fire. Despite this dearth of peer-reviewed research, historical fire patterns, current fire management activities, and copious unpublished data indicate prairie dogs likely reduce wildfire spread and/or intensity. We advocate for a paradigm shift in Great Plains rangeland management that considers prairie dogs as the third side of a “disturbance triangle.”