Monitoring the American pika (Ochotona princeps) in the Pacific West Region - Crater Lake National Park, Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, Lassen Volcanic National Park, and Lava Beds National Monument: Protocol Narrative Version 1.0

Jeffress, Mackenzie; Apel, John; Garrett, Lisa; Holm, Gregory; Larson, David; Nordensten, Nancy; Rodhouse, Thomas

The mission of the National Park Service (NPS) is “to conserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment of this and future generations” (NPS 1999). To uphold this goal, the Director of the NPS approved the Natural Resource Challenge to encourage national parks to focus on the preservation of the nation’s natural heritage through science, natural resource inventories, and expanded resource monitoring (NPS 1999). Through the Challenge, 270 parks in the national park system were organized into 32 inventory and monitoring (I&M) networks. Four park units in the Pacific West Region, Crater Lake National Park (CRLA), Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve (CRMO), Lassen Volcanic National Park (LAVO), and Lava Beds National Monument (LABE) have formed a partnership with the Upper Columbia Basin Network (UCBN) to develop a long-term monitoring protocol for the American pika (Ochotona princeps) following common methods that support comparative analyses. Monitoring efforts for CRMO will be implemented and funded by the UCBN whereas efforts in CRLA, LABE, and LAVO will be implemented and funded at the park level. The pika is a charismatic species in all of these parks and evidence of recent localized extirpations and range contractions in some areas, particularly in the Great Basin and Sierra Nevada mountains, have led to concerns about the impacts of climate change on this heat-intolerant animal. This protocol details the why, where, how, and when of a pika monitoring program. As recommended by Oakley et al. (2003), it consists of a protocol narrative and a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) which detail the steps required to collect, manage, and disseminate the data representing the status and trend of pika populations in the parks. The protocol is a “living” document in the sense that it is continually updated as new information acquired through monitoring and evaluation leads to the refinement of program objectives and methodologies. Changes to the protocol are carefully documented in a revision history log. The intent of the protocol is to ensure that a scientifically credible story about the ecological condition of park pika populations can be told to park visitors and managers alike. Four years of pilot data have been collected at CRMO, 3 years at LABE, and 1 year’s worth at CRLA and LAVO. These data provide answers to preliminary questions about the current pika distribution and have been used to resolve several logistical and methodological questions for the monitoring program. Initial focus of the protocol will be to obtain additional baseline information about the distribution and occupancy status of pikas in each of the four parks. As more information becomes available, the focus will shift toward trend detection, in which changes in occurrence patterns will be compared against baseline estimates for each park, and biologically meaningful declines or increases in pika occupancy can be described. Ultimately, data from this monitoring program can contribute to the understanding of relationships between pika site occupancy patterns and park environmental conditions, which can then inform park management decisions.

Monitoring the American pika (Ochotona princeps) in the Pacific West Region - Crater Lake National Park, Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, Lassen Volcanic National Park, and Lava Beds National Monument: Protocol Narrative Version 1.0

Series

Collections