Prairie dog meltdown: A climate-invasive plant-consumer interaction threat to grasslands

Prairie dogs have been largely relegated to public lands where their preservation remains strongly defended by advocates. Reduced predation on these animals leads to over-grazing, which leads to dominance by an introduced, alkaloid-bearing plant, bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis). The plant becomes winter forage for the animals, and warmer winters allow the animals to graze extensively in the non-growing season. Defoliation of all vegetation can cause dust storms and erosion of surface soils. Soil fertility declines. The classical keystone species, with a new food source and in a changing climate, becomes a transformative agent inducing shrublandification and desertification.