Microclimate and Summer Surface Activity in the American Pika (Ochotona princeps)

Benedict, Lauren M.; Wiebe, Meghan; Plichta, Maxwell C.; Batts, H. Lewis; Johnson, Jessica; Monk, Emily; Ray, Chris

doi:10.3398/064.080.0303

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 68 publications

(67 reference statements)

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“…The amount of subsurface warming required to stress pikas should be related to the amount of heat they need to shed, which should be related to surface temperature and the amount of required surface activity-variables that would vary in space and time. In a recent study that included the Krear site and other sites on and near Niwot Ridge, pika surface activity varied with the differential between shallow and deep temperatures in the talus [71]. The fact that this relationship could be detected in recent years suggests that recent subsurface temperatures in this region are at least somewhat limiting for pikas.…”

Section: Recent and Historical Temperatures At Weather Stations Near K1mentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting talus and free-air temperatures after 50 years of change at an American pika (Ochotona princeps) study site in the Southern Rockies

Monk

Ray²

2022

PLOS Clim

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Climate change in mountain regions has exposed high-elevation species to rapidly changing temperatures. Although climate exposure can be reduced in certain microclimates, the quality of microclimatic refugia might also degrade with climate change. The American pika (Ochotona princeps) often inhabits high elevations, and is considered climate-sensitive due to its narrow thermal tolerance and recent extirpations in some warmer portions of its range. Pikas behaviorally thermoregulate by taking refuge in the subsurface microclimates found in taluses and other rocky habitats, where daily thermal fluctuations are attenuated and somewhat decoupled from free-air temperatures. Changes in microclimate might reduce the efficacy of this behavioral thermoregulation. This study compares recent (2009–2021) subsurface temperatures at a long-term pika study site with a rare instance of historical (1963–1964) data from the same location. We also place historical and recent microclimates in context using long-term data on free-air temperatures from the same area. Recent free-air temperatures were often warmer than historical records, and subsurface temperatures exhibited even stronger warming between periods. Temperatures measured in the talus were often dramatically warmer in recent records, especially at the deeper of two subsurface sensor placements in this study. Winter months showed the greatest changes in both talus and free-air temperatures. Differences between historical and recent microclimates were not explained by the precise placement of sensors, as recent temperatures were similar across a wide variety of subsurface placements, and temporal changes in free-air temperatures at the historical study site were also reflected in data from nearby weather stations. Together, these results suggest that subsurface microclimates important for pika thermoregulation have changed over the past few decades, perhaps even faster than observed changes in free-air temperatures. The generality of these results and their potential ramifications for ecosystem processes and services should be explored.

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Section: Recent and Historical Temperatures At Weather Stations Near K1mentioning

confidence: 99%

Revisiting talus and free-air temperatures after 50 years of change at an American pika (Ochotona princeps) study site in the Southern Rockies

Monk

Ray²

2022

PLOS Clim

Self Cite

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“…We focus on American pikas here given their often-high detectability (p > 0.90, Beever et al, 2010;Ray et al, 2016) as well as our ability to quantify population density from patch-level surveys using visual and auditory detections. Due to their limited physiological thermoregulation, pikas occupy broken-rock features, like talus fields and lavascapes, that buffer against fluctuating ambient temperatures (Benedict et al, 2020). This habitat is also readily delineated using satellite imagery prior to field surveys and persists over centuries to millennia with little structural change.…”

Section: Model Organismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatio-temporal variability in the strength, directionality, and relative importance of climate on occupancy and population densities in a philopatric mammal, the American pika (Ochotona princeps)

et al. 2023

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Species distribution models (SDMs) have been widely employed to evaluate species–environment relationships. However, when extrapolated over broad spatial scales or through time, these models decline in their predictive ability due to variation in how species respond to their environment. Many models assume species–environment relationships remain constant over space and time, hindering their ability to accurately forecast distributions. Therefore, there is growing recognition that models could be improved by accounting for spatio-temporal nonstationarity – a phenomenon wherein the factors governing ecological processes change over space or time. Here, we investigated nonstationarity in American pika (Ochotona princeps) relationships with climatic variables in the Rocky Mountains (USA). We first compared broad-scale differences in pika–climate patterns for occupancy and population density across the Southern, Central, and Northern Rockies. Next, we investigated within-ecoregion variation across four mountain ranges nested within the Northern Rockies. Lastly, we tested whether species–climate relationships changed over time within the Central Rockies ecoregion. Across all analyses, we found varying levels of nonstationarity among the climate metrics for both occupancy and density. Although we found general congruence in temperature metrics, which consistently had negative coefficients, and moisture metrics (e.g., relative humidity), which had positive coefficients, nonstationarity was greatest for summer and winter precipitation over both space and time. These results suggest that interpretations from one ecoregion should not be applied to other regions universally – especially when using precipitation metrics. The within-ecoregion analysis found much greater variation in the strength-of-relationship coefficients among the four mountain ranges, relative to the inter-regional analysis, possibly attributable to smaller sample sizes per mountain range. Lastly, the importance of several variables shifted through time from significant to insignificant in the temporal analysis. Our results collectively reveal the overall complexity underlying species–environment relationships. With rapidly shifting conditions globally, this work adds to the growing body of literature highlighting how issues of spatio-temporal nonstationarity can limit the accuracy, transferability, and reliability of models and that interpretations will likely be most robust at local to regional scales. Diagnosing, describing, and incorporating nonstationarity of species–climate relationships into models over space and time could serve as a pivotal step in creating more informative models.

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Microhabitat of Myotis leibii summer roosts at the southwestern periphery of their range

et al. 2023

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Understanding microhabitat use is needed to make sound conservation decisions for at-risk, patchy-habitat specialists. Rock habitats offer unique microclimatic refugia for wildlife. Eastern Small-footed Bats (Myotis leibii (Audubon and Bachman, 1842)) use rock roosts during the summer, but data on these summer roosts are lacking for this species classified as (critically) imperiled in several US states and Canadian provinces and as globally endangered. Our goal was to characterize the structure and microclimate of M. leibii roosts at the southwestern periphery of their range. We predicted that M. leibii roost temperatures would be warmer and less variable than ambient temperatures and that solitary bats would use horizontal roosts cooler at night, whereas maternity group roosts would be vertical and warmer at night. During summers 2019 and 2020, we recorded physical (e.g., width) and temperature attributes of 58 M. leibii roosts at 16 sites in the Ouachita Mountains. Crevice roosts of M. leibii had narrow dimensions like elsewhere in their range and roost temperatures (measured with iButtons) were warmer and more variable than ambient temperatures. Group roosts were larger and had more stable temperatures than solitary roosts. These findings may be useful for assessing population threats, monitoring roost suitability, identifying roost-rich areas that need protection, and even planning artificial roost structures where natural roosts are limited.

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Microclimate and Summer Surface Activity in the American Pika (Ochotona princeps)

Cited by 5 publications

References 68 publications

Revisiting talus and free-air temperatures after 50 years of change at an American pika (Ochotona princeps) study site in the Southern Rockies

Revisiting talus and free-air temperatures after 50 years of change at an American pika (Ochotona princeps) study site in the Southern Rockies

Spatio-temporal variability in the strength, directionality, and relative importance of climate on occupancy and population densities in a philopatric mammal, the American pika (Ochotona princeps)

Microhabitat of Myotis leibii summer roosts at the southwestern periphery of their range

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