OpportunityTitle: Risk of Plague to Prairie Dog Population in Five Great Plains&apos;s Parks
CategoryExplanation: Biological/Research
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: This is a single source award to University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota.  The PI is uniquely qualified to conduct the study.  He developed a novel DNA approach to identify the paque bacterium in the host fleas.  His method can not only identify plaque in the environment, but they have the potential to predict plaque epizootics.  The PI has also successfully amplified eight microsatellite loci in black-tailed prairie dogs and he has use microstatellite primers from the hen flea to amplify microsatellites in the prairie dog flea.  The PI is currently the only one conducting this type of work and he has the baseline information, equipment and experience necessary to efficiently conduct the work in the parks in the proposed study.  The PI has years of field experience in Montana conducting similar studies.
Description: Conduct a baseline inventory and assessment of plague in five NPS units in the Northern Great Plains, identify the flea species present in those parks, the genetic variability of the fleas and prairie dogs in and near the parks, to assess the risk of plague epizootics in prairie dogs, and to identify management actions to reduce the risk of epizootics.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: Help Desk
GrantorContactText: Tonya Bradley &lt;br/&gt;Contract Specialist &lt;br/&gt;Phone 402-661-1656