The Prairie Dog Has Always Been Considered a Problem for American

question 251

Essay

The prairie dog has always been considered a problem for American cattle ranchers. They dig holes that cattle and horses can step in, and they eat grass necessary for cattle. Recently, ranchers have discovered that there is a demand for prairie dogs as pets. In some areas, prairie dogs can sell for as high as $150 each. Cattlemen are now fencing off prairie dog towns on their land so these towns will not be disturbed by their cattle.
Draw a rancher's production possibilities frontier showing increasing opportunity cost of cattle production in terms of prairie dog production. Using a separate graph for each situation, show what would happen to the initial production possibilities frontier in each of the following situations:
a.The outcome is efficient, with ranchers choosing to produce equal numbers of cattle and prairie dogs.
b.As a protest against the government introducing the gray wolf back into the wild in their state, ranchers decide to withhold 25 percent of the available grassland for grazing.
c.The price of prairie dogs increases to $200 each, so ranchers decide to allot additional land for prairie dogs.
d.The government grants new leases to ranchers, giving them 10,000 new acres of grassland each for grazing.
e.A drought destroys most of the available grass for grazing of cattle, but not for prairie dogs since they also eat plant roots.

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Definitions:

Earth's Air

The mixture of gases surrounding the planet, known as the atmosphere, which is crucial for supporting life by providing oxygen and protecting against solar radiation.

Troposphere

The lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere, where weather phenomena like rain, snow, and storms occur.

Atmospheric Boundary

The transitional layer of the atmosphere closest to the Earth's surface where the majority of weather phenomena take place.

Weather Balloon

A balloon that carries instruments aloft to send back information on atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, and wind speed at different altitudes.