What other species are vulnerable to climate change? What other species will be gone? Even now, Stewart says, the whitebark pine and the Belding’s ground squirrel are threatened. Stewart concludes that the pika as an indicator species reveals what’s possibly ahead for other species. At the end of their last evaluation, they opted for continued monitoring as opposed to the listing, wrote researcher Joseph Stewart. Legislation-wise, President Obama chose not to put pikas on the endangered list, but California Department of Fish and Wildlife currently list pikas as a species of special concern. Exposed out in the open during these times, the pika becomes more susceptible to predators: weasels, hawks, owls, and coyotes. When it’s too hot, it can’t collect as much food (unable to tolerate warm weather), so it forages during the cooler times of day - morning and night. When high elevation habitats become warm, it moves higher and higher. The explanation of the pika’s disappearance is simple: the pika thrives in cold weather with its thick coat of fur and high metabolic rate it gets hot easily. Each year I have to go farther up the talus slopes to find them.” He has also hiked around the southeast mountains near the Sierra Buttes, saying: “Three years ago there were a lot more pikas. But how long will this cute little bunny critter survive? Joseph Stewart, one of the authors in the study, projects a 97 percent decline of suitable climate conditions in the Tahoe area by 2050. Rose, Tamarack Peak, Rose Knob Peak, Marlette Peak, Ward Peak, Five Lakes, KT-22, Pole Creek, and Donner Pass. Looking at the map included in the journal article, there have been signs of pika found east and west of the Pluto triangle, such as Mt. From radiocarbon dates (from old fecal matter), the study concludes that pikas were extirpated from the Pluto triangle sometime after 1958, with age ranges within the triangle spanning as late as 1991. The loss of pika in this local area is the “largest area of pika extinction yet reported for the modern era,” states the PLOS One journal.īut, pikas aren’t completely gone from areas near Tahoe. Pluto at the top of Northstar ski resort) to Truckee, Highway 89, Tahoe City, and back to Kings Beach - the high terrain that sits within that triangle. What is the Pluto triangle? Think of the drive from Kings Beach, over Brockway summit (yes, this includes Mt. Looking at climate, weather-station data, and previously published data on the pika’s habitat, they found these sources to “implicate climate change as the cause of the Pluto triangle extirpation. One study took place right here in Tahoe, documented in the Public Library of Science journal (PLOS One) in August 2017 by authors Joseph A.E.

When winter arrives, the pika hunkers down in its snow tunnels under talus (steep and rocky) slopes - they don’t hibernate - surfacing on occasion to forage for food, even as they’ve collected their winter pantry of “haypiles” of grasses and wildflowers.īecause the pika has been described as “an indicator species for detecting the ecological effects of a changing climate in mountainous regions,” according to nps.gov, it has gained new attention in the research world.

A critter known for loving the cold, it molts during the summer, then dons a nice heavy coat for winter. The pika is part of the rabbit family, Lagomorph, (order Lagomorphs), but differs from rabbits and hares as it has less developed hind legs (it doesn’t scamper about as easily as rabbits), has no tail, and wears those goofy Disney ears. What’s not to love about this adorable little creature as it shouts out “eeee!” from a rock slope, sitting on a boulder, seemingly curled up in itself?

“Cute” is often written in its description. The American pika (Ochotona princeps) is often described as a small rabbit (avocado-sized) with rounded ears like Mickey Mouse.

Pika mouse