Nestled in the mountains of the Front Range lives a small creature called the pika, one of Colorado’s most endangered species. A potato-sized animal closely related to the rabbit, a pika’s cuteness is clearly evident in the summer as it gathers wildflowers in its mouth.But as temperatures rise in the area, being cute won’t save the pika in its attempts to survive a changing climate.
“It’s arguably why these things seem to be disappearing from habitats,” said Timothy Seastedt, an ecologist at the University of Colorado’s Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research. At INSTAAR, Seastedt focuses on terrestrial ecosystem studies and has extensive knowledge of the ecosystems in the area.
As the planet warms, many inhabitants are struggling to survive. Species across the globe, including humans, are having to adapt to changing climate conditions brought on by global warming.
According to a 2011 study in Science Magazine by conservation biologist Chris Thomas, almost two dozen species around the world are attempting to survive the changing climate by moving to higher elevations. The alpine chipmunk, native to the central and southern part of the Sierra Nevada, is found only in the higher elevations in the mountains. With its home already near the highest elevations, there isn’t too much room left to move up before it disappears.
One day, the pika may face this same fate. During the winter, pikas use surrounding snow to insulate themselves from the cold temperatures. Warmer temperatures equal less snow, so it’s harder for the creatures to stay warm, Seastedt explains.
“These animals don’t hibernate, so they have to stay active all winter. If snow cover is reduced because it’s been warmer, they have less insulation from the snow, and that has a negative effect on their energy,” said Seastedt.
Pikas have one characteristic uncommon in many other mammals: they cannot regulate their body temperature. Humans sweat to cool down and shiver to warm up. Pikas don’t do either of these things. Therefore, they must stay in an environment with proper temperatures for their small bodies. Otherwise, they won’t survive.
During the summer, pikas spend their time gathering grasses, flowers, and vegetation, which they need for the winter months. They gather these plants, forming what Seastedt calls “haystacks” in their dens, where they burrow for most of the winter. This harvest during the summer is essential for the pikas’ survival.
Because their survival in winter is dependent on their ability to forage for vegetation in the summer, rising summer temperatures are also causing these small creatures problems.
“These things will overheat really quick in the summer, so if things get warmer in the summer they essentially have to go hide in the shade, and they can’t be foraging,” said Seastedt. “If they can’t do their active foraging because it’s too hot, they end up with a lower food supply in the winter.”
The National Park Service has been studying pikas since 2010 under the project Pikas in Peril. These studies have shown that pika populations will decline and possibly go extinct in several parks by the end of the century.
Recent findings released by the US Geological Survey show that 45 percent of pikas in the Great Basin area have disappeared. Certain areas have shown that 75 percent of pika habitats are gone. The study also shows that all signs point to climate change as the reason for the disappearance.
In August, a study by the University of California Santa Cruz showed that the pika has completely disappeared along California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. Previously, pikas inhabited a 64-square-mile stretch along the northern parts of the mountains. Researchers spent six years in the area searching for evidence of pikas, finding nothing but old fecal pellets.
These studies have one goal – to show that climate change is, in fact, affecting our planet more and more each day. In 2015, Science wrote that one in six species on our planet could be vulnerable to extinction from climate change in just this century.
Someday soon, the pika might be that one.
