We studied black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) on the Conata Basin, Buffalo Gap National Grassland, South Dakota, USA, 2007-2009. We live-trapped and sampled prairie dogs in 2007 (before known invasion of the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis), 2008 (the year of confirmed invasion), and 2009 (after invasion). Sampling was completed on three 9-ha plots treated annually with deltamethrin dust for flea (Y. pestis-vector) control and three 9-ha plots lacking flea control (non-dusted) as baselines. Each live-trapped prairie dog was marked with ear tags for permanent identification and tracking of survival. If a marked prairie dog was recaptured and identified (via ear tags) the following year, the prairie dog was classifed as a surviving individual (commonly referred to as "apparent" survival). If a marked prairie dog was not recaptured the following year, the prairie dog was classified as a non-surviving individual. In 2007 and 2008, approximately half the adult prairie dogs live-trapped were injected subcutaneously with either an experimental F1-V fusion plague vaccine or placebo formulation; the remaining adult prairie dogs and all juveniles were not inoculated. In 2007 and 2008, we anesthetized subsets of prairie dogs on the dusted and non-dusted plots with isoflurane and combed them with a fine-tooth comb for 30 seconds to remove and count fleas. We analyzed subsets of data to evaluate (1) effects of vaccination (vaccine/placebo) and deltamethrin dust (dusted/non-dusted) on adult prairie dog survival for individuals injected with vaccine or placebo, (2) effects of vaccination on adult prairie dog survival on the plots treated with deltamethrin dusting specifically, and (3) effects of deltamethrin dust on non-injected adult and juvenile prairie dog survival.
The data file is named Prairie_Dog_F1-V_Vaccine_DeltaDust_Data.xlsx. The first sheet (AdultsVxPcbDust01-2007-2008) includes data on adult prairie dog annual survival, 2007-2008, for individuals injected with vaccine or placebo on the dusted and non-dusted plots. Each line of data is for an individual prairie dog. Variables include Interval (2007-2008), Injection (Vaccine or Placebo), DeltaDust (1=dusted, 0=non-dusted), Age (prairie dog age, adult), Sex (prairie dog sex, female or male), and SurviveInterval (a binomial variable for whether or not the prairie dog survived the 2007-2008 interval). The second sheet (AdultsVxPcbDusted-2007-2009) includes data on adult prairie dog annual survival for individuals injected with vaccine or placebo on the dusted plots only, 2007-2009. Each line of data is for an individual prairie dog. Variables include Interval (2007-2008, 2008-2009), Injection (Vaccine or Placebo), DeltaDust (1=dusted), Age (prairie dog age, adult), Sex (prairie dog sex, female or male), and SurviveInterval (a binomial variable for whether or not the prairie dog survived the 2007-2008 and/or 2008-2009 intervals). The third sheet (NoInjectionDust01-2007-2008) includes data on non-injected adult and juvenile prairie dog annual survival on the dusted and non-dusted plots, 2007-2008. Each line of data is for an individual prairie dog. Variables include Interval (2007-2008), Injection (None), DeltaDust (1=dusted, 0 = non-dusted), Age (prairie dog age, adult or juvenile), Sex (prairie dog sex, female or male), and SurviveInterval (a binomial variable for whether or not the prairie dog survived the 2007-2008 interval). The fourth and final sheet (FleasDust01-2007-2008) includes data on prairie dog flea parasitism on the dusted and non-dusted plots, 2007-2008. Each line of data is for an individual prairie dog. Variables include Year (2007 or 2008), JulianDay (Julian day of year), DeltaDust (1=dusted, 0 = non-dusted), Age (prairie dog age, adult or juvenile), Sex (prairie dog sex, female or male), and Fleas (the number of fleas detected on the individual prairie dog).