American pika thriving in the Sierra Nevada

[gdurkee]

Brian:

Good analysis on all counts. The Sierra has definitely had warm and dry periods, but the rate of change could well be depressing to those of us with attachments to certain vulnerable ecosystems.

The Medieval Warm (ca. 950 to 1200??) was rapid -- Tenaya Lake was totally dry within a few decades -- but Giant Sequoias somehow eked out a living during that period.

g.

[BrianF]

I agree that it is depressing to think about what may become, I certainly don't dwell on it myself, just do what I can to try to help with positive change. I especially don't think about it when am I out in the mountains, then I just enjoy!

[BSquared]

Wow, this is good news! Last summer, though, I thought I heard far fewer pikas than I used to, back in the seventies, but of course that's just anecdotal. George, glad your personal observations support this. Definitely among my favorite critters...

[oldranger]

Bill

Is this a comment about the number of pika or the state of your hearing?

Mike

[BSquared]

Eh?

[ERIC]

Wow. Talk about a brief run.

Study links decreasing range of California pikas to climate change



SANTA CRUZ >> The American pika, a rabbit-like fur ball that lives in the rocky slopes of mountains in the American West, is disappearing in California.

A recent study finds that rising temperatures appear to be driving some pika populations extinct in low elevation sites in the Sierra Nevada.

Using historical data, researchers found that pikas are no longer found in 15 percent of their California range, places that are on average 2.2 degrees warmer than sites where they remain. They predict that by 2070, pikas will have disappeared from nearly 40 to 90 percent of those sites, depending on how much summer temperatures actually rise.

“It’s troubling,” said lead author Joseph Stewart, a graduate student at UC Santa Cruz. “This sort of points the finger at climate change.”

The study was published in the Journal of Biogeography.

With thick fur — even inside their ears and on the bottoms of their feet — ­­pikas are adapted to the cold temperatures in high-elevation boulder fields and alpine meadows. They don’t hibernate and need to maintain a high body temperature to survive the winter, which they prepare for by spending the summer harvesting grasses.

“Hikers often see them hopping across the rocks and carrying little bouquets of wildflowers in their mouth,” Stewart said. “A lot of the locations that hikers go to, the lower elevations for pikas, that’s where we’re losing them.”

Read More: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/enviro ... ate-change

[BSquared]

Sigh. Too bad climate change isn't really real, at least according to a whopping three percent of climate scientists :retard:

At least it wasn't my hearing, LOL...

Seriously: this is really sad.

[gdurkee]

Two years ago, I was injured and working dispatch in Sequoia Kings. A sad, sad sight having me cooped up in a hot room full of computers, screens and blaring radios. My backcountry buddies would occasionally call in to perk me up with a vicarious thrill at their day. One called in after coming down the Golden Staircase, saying she'd seen a bunch of pikas, all in one small area.

Well, clearly we needed a name for a collective of pikas -- like an exaltation of larks or murther of crows -- I proposed (and propose here) a Frolic of Pikas.

Talk amongst yourselves... .

g.

[rlown]

I could live with Frolic.

From http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Rabbit

Rabbits are often known affectionately by the pet name "bunny" or "bunny rabbit," especially when referring to young, domesticated rabbits. Originally, the word for an adult rabbit was "coney" or "cony," while "rabbit" referred to the young animals. More recently, the term "kit" or "kitten" has been used to refer to a young rabbit. A group of young rabbits is referred to as a "kindle." Young hares are called "leverets," and this term is sometimes informally applied to any young rabbit. Male adult rabbits are called "bucks" and female adult rabbits are known as "does." A group of rabbits or hares is often called a "fluffle" in parts of Northern Canada. A group of rabbits is called a "herd."

[gdurkee]

A fluffle! Better and better!

g.