| flea abundance, diversity, and plague in gunnison's prairie dogs (cynomys gunnisoni) and their burrows in montane grasslands in northern new mexico. | plague, a flea-transmitted infectious disease caused by the bacterium yersinia pestis, is a primary threat to the persistence of prairie dog populations (cynomys spp.). we conducted a 3-yr survey (2004-2006) of fleas from gunnison's prairie dogs (cynomys gunnisoni) and their burrows in montane grasslands in valles caldera national preserve in new mexico. our objectives were to describe flea communities and identify flea and rodent species important to the maintenance of plague. we live-trapped p ... | 2010 | 20688629 |