| rodent-pika parasite spillover in western north america. | competition during the cenozoic expansion of the rodentia may have contributed to ecological niche reduction of pikas, which are now increasingly under threat as their habitat degrades under global climate change, while some rodents expand their ranges and overlap with pikas. range overlap carries the possibility of disease spillover. contemporary north american pikas are cold-adapted and relegated primarily to alpine environments where they subsist on relatively low-quality herbaceous diet. yet ... | 2017 | 28419257 |
| apparent climate-mediated loss and fragmentation of core habitat of the american pika in the northern sierra nevada, california, usa. | contemporary climate change has been widely documented as the apparent cause of range contraction at the edge of many species distributions but documentation of climate change as a cause of extirpation and fragmentation of the interior of a species' core habitat has been lacking. here, we report the extirpation of the american pika (ochotona princeps), a temperature-sensitive small mammal, from a 165-km2 area located within its core habitat in california's sierra nevada mountains. while sites su ... | 2017 | 28854268 |
| radiocarbon dating of american pika fecal pellets provides insights into population extirpations and climate refugia. | the american pika (ochotona princeps) has become a species of concern for its sensitivity to warm temperatures and potential vulnerability to global warming. we explored the value of radiocarbon dating of fecal pellets to address questions of population persistence and timing of site extirpation. carbon was extracted from pellets collected at 43 locations in the western great basin, usa, including three known occupied sites and 40 sites of uncertain status at range margins or where previous stud ... | 2018 | 29210235 |