Plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) are regarded as one of the main causes of the degradation of alpine meadows in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). The population density of plateau pikas is directly related to the degree of grassland damage. In this study, field observation was conducted for one week in the southeastern QTP in August 2019. A random encounter model (REM) was used to estimate the population density of plateau pikas from photographs and videos, and the frequencies of different behaviors were calculated. In addition, the effects of water-source distance and terrain on the distribution of plateau pikas and the frequencies of different pika behaviors under different population densities were explored. The observations and knowledge derived from this study provide a reference for the population control of plateau pikas.

Fang-Fang Li 1This is an open access article under the terms of the Creat ive Commo ns Attri bution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) are regarded as one of the main reasons for the degradation of alpine meadows in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). The population density of plateau pikas is directly related to the degree of grassland damage. In this study, a one-week field observation was conducted in the southeastern QTP in August 2019. Based on the photos and videos, the random encounter model (REM) was used to estimate the population density of plateau pikas, and the frequency of different behaviors was counted. The effects of water source distance and terrain on the distribution of plateau pikas were also investigated. In addition, the frequency of different behaviors of plateau pikas under different population densities was also explored. The observations and knowledge derived from this study provide a reference for the population control of plateau pikas.

With the help of Wen-Jing Li, the authors realized there was a mistake of surface temperature in the paper above. The surface temperature in the paper refers to the temperature recorded in images which was detected by the temperature receptors of the field infrared camera, instead of the real surface temperature. As there was no shelter to the field infrared camera in alpine meadow grasslands, the temperature of the camera increased rapidly under the sunshine. Thus the conclusion of the preferable temperature for pikas may be around 31~35°C was not right, neither the temperature in Figure 6. As there was no equipment to measure the surface temperature in the observation, it is hard to restore the original surface temperature. The data in Figure 6 can be used to compare the behavior characteristics of plateau pikas at different relative temperature. The authors would like to declare that the temperature in the paper refers to the temperature recorded in images which was detected by the temperature receptors of the field infrared camera, instead of the real surface temperature. The historic high air temperature in Dari County was 23.2°C (Wang et al. 2018). The temperature of the camera could increase rapidly under the sunshine, so the temperature in the paper can only be taken as a reference of the relative temperature. The authors would like to give an extra special thanks to Wen-Jing Li, who provides the professional advice and help.