Pikas in Peril
Rodhouse T. Pikas in Peril. 2010-2016
Pikas in Peril is a collaborative research program directed by scientists from the National Park Service, Oregon State University, University of Idaho, and University of Colorado-Boulder. The American Pika (Ochotona princeps) is a charismatic indicator species of the potential effects of climate change on mountain ecosystems. Pikas are sensitive to summer heat and rely on winter snowpack for insulation from harsh winter temperatures. The National Park Service stewards pika populations in more than a dozen parks and seeks to understand the vulnerability of pikas and other mountain species to climate change. Pikas in Peril, funded in 2010, was a collaborative research program directed by scientists from the National Park Service, Oregon State University, University of Idaho, and University of Colorado-Boulder. To help the National Park Service better prepare for the ecological changes anticipated in the coming decades, the team pursued three objectives in eight of these parks: 1) to identify the factors (e.g., temperature, precipitation, habitat connectivity, topography, etc.) that shape contemporary pika distributions; 2) Assess the connectivity and gene flow of pika populations, including how landscape features affect movement of pikas between patches of suitable talus and lava flow habitat; 3) Evaluate climate change vulnerability of pika populations in each park by integrating pika distribution and gene flow models with forecasted regional changes in temperature and precipitation.
- Type
- Project
- Authors
- Rodhouse, Tom
- Units
- CRLA , CRMO , GRSA , GRTE , KLMN , LABE , LAVO , ROMO , UCBN , YELL
- Keywords
- Pikas in Peril
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Air and Climate | Weather and Climate | Weather and Climate , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Mammals
Program
Products
- Distribution of American Pikas in a Low-elevation Lava Landscape: Conservation Implications from the Range Periphery
- The idiosyncrasies of place: geographic variation in the climate-distribution relationships of the American pika
- Analysis of proposed rock quarrying and trail improvement impacts on American pikas in Grand Teton National Park
- Pikas in Peril Research Project: Jenny Lake Rock Harvesting, Grand Teton National Park
- Pikas in Peril Research Project: Landscape effects on pika gene flow - Crater Lake National Park
- Landscape effects on gene flow for a climate-sensitive montane species, the American pika
- Pika monitoring at Crater Lake National Park, Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, Lassen Volcanic National Park, and Lava Beds National Monument: 2010-2014 report
- Pikas in Peril Research Project: Crater Lake National Park - Summary and results
- Pikas in Peril Research Project: Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve - Summary and results
- Pikas in Peril Research Project: Lava Beds National Monument - Summary and results
- Pikas in Peril Research Project: Lassen Volcanic National Park - Summary and results
- Pikas in Peril Research Project: Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve - Summary and results
- Pikas in Peril Research Project: Rocky Mountain National Park - Summary and results
- Pikas in Peril Research Project: Grand Teton National Park - Summary and results
- Pikas in Peril Research Project: Yellowstone National Park - Summary and results
- Habitat availability and gene flow influence diverging local population trajectories under scenarios of climate change: a place-based approach
- Distribution of a climate-sensitive species at an interior range margin