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Guest Editorial A Clue
to Burrowing Owl Declines on Grazed Grasslands? The following paper from American Midland Naturalist is based on research in the tallgrass prairie, which is not burrowing owl habitat. So, it should not be applied directly to burrowing owls. But, the herbivore components of the study both occurred historically and currently in shortgrass and mixed-grass prairies which were home to large numbers of burrowing owls. This sort of ecological understanding may provide a clue to why burrowing owls thrived in grazing regimes of native bison, but have declined in grazing regimes of domestic livestock. Bear in mind, of course that many other factors definitely relate to burrowing owl declines (persecution of keystone fossorial mammals to benefit cattle operations, outright habitat conversion to other uses, etc.), but this one may be overlooked and understudied in those intact vegetative communities where the principal difference between "now and then" is the replacement of native grazers (American bison) with domestic livestock.
Some questions that might be investigated in shortgrass prairie might be: If bison impact vegetation structure differently as compared to cattle, how might this affect other prey populations of value to burrowing owls, including insects, reptiles, etc.? If fire was intermittent and not an annual process, how would this affect burrowing owls and their habitat? How would the interaction of bison and prairie dogs impact burrowing owls compared to cattle-grazed habitats with or without prairie dogs? Stan Moore is a falconer, an active participant in bird banding studies, and on the Advisory Board of Western Watersheds Project, Inc.
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