David P. Thoma

Pika (Ochotona princeps) losses from two isolated regions reflect temperature and water balance, but reflect habitat area in a mainland region

Although biotic responses to contemporary climate change are spatially pervasive and often reflect synergies between climate and other ecological disturbances, the relative importance of climatic factors versus habitat extent for species persistence remains poorly understood. To address this shortcoming, we performed surveys for American pikas (Ochotona princeps) at > 910 locations in 3 geographic regions of western North America during 2014 and 2015, complementing earlier modern (1994–2013) and historical (1898–1990) surveys. We sought to compare extirpation rates and the relative importance of climatic factors versus habitat area for pikas in a mainland-versus-islands framework. In each region, we found widespread evidence of distributional loss— local extirpations, upslope retractions, and encounter of only old sign. Locally comprehensive surveys suggest extirpation of O. princeps from 5 of 9 new sites from the hydrographic Great Basin and from 11 of 29 sites in northeastern California. Although American pikas were recorded as recently as 2011 in Zion National Park and in 2012 from Cedar Breaks National Monument in Utah, O. princeps now appears extirpated from all reported localities in both park units. Multiple logistic regressions for each region suggested that both temperature-related and water-balance-related variables estimated from DAYMET strongly explained pika persistence at sites in the Great Basin and in Utah but not in the Sierra-Cascade “mainland” portion of northeastern California. Conversely, talus-habitat area did not predict American pika persistence in the Great Basin or Utah but strongly predicted persistence in the Sierra-Cascade mainland. These results not only add new areas to our understanding of long-term trend of the American pikas distribution, but also can inform decisions regarding allocation of conservation effort and management actions. Burgeoning research on species such as O. princeps has collectively demonstrated the heterogeneity and nuance with which climate can act on the distribution of mountain-dwelling mammals. Aunque las respuestas bióticas al cambio climático contemporáneo son espacialmente generalizadas y frecuentemente reflejan sinergias entre el clima y otros disturbios ecológicos, la importancia relativa de factores climáticos frente al área de hábitat para el mantenimiento de especies sigue siendo poco conocida. Para subsanar esta deficiencia, realizamos muestreos de la pika Americana (Ochotona princeps) en más de 910 sitios en 3 regiones geográficas del oeste de Norteamérica durante 2014 y 2015, complementando muestreos realizados en tiempos recientes (1994–2013) e históricos (1898–1990). Comparamos las tasas de extirpación para dilucidar la importancia relativa de los factores climáticos con respeto al área del hábitat disponible de las pikas bajo un marco conceptual de áreas continentales frente a zonas aisladas. En cada región, encontramos amplia evidencia en la pérdida de área de distribución - extinciones locales, desapariciones de las zonas bajas, y encuentro sólo de evidencia de ocupación pasada. Estudios localmente exhaustivos sugieren la extirpación de O. princeps en 5 de las 9 localidades nuevas muestreadas de la Gran Cuenca Hidrográfica (Great Basin), y en 11 de las 29 localidades en el noreste de California. Aunque las pikas todavía se encontraban en fechas recientes como en 2011 en el Parque Nacional Zion y en el Monumento Nacional Cedar Breaks en Utah en 2012, O. princeps ahora parece extirpada de todas las localidades donde fue encontrada anteriormente en ambos parques. Regresiones logísticas múltiples para cada región basados en factores ambientales como la temperatura y los factores relacionados con el balance del agua (ambos estimados por el DAYMET) explicaron claramente el patrón de persistencia de la pika en localidades de la Gran Cuenca y en Utah, pero no en el noreste de California, en el área “continental” de la montañas de Sierra Nevada y Cascades. Por el contrario, el hábitat de talud no predijo la persistencia de la pika en los sitios aislados en la Gran Cuenca y en Utah, pero lo predijo significativamente en el área continental (i.e., en las montañas de Sierra Nevada y Cascades). Estos resultados incrementan el conocimiento sobre la distribución histórica y la tendencia a largo plazo de la pika Americana. Este conocimiento también puede ayudar en la toma de decisiones sobre las prioridades en las acciones en conservación y manejo. El avance en conjunto en investigaciones de especies como O. princeps ha demostrado la heterogeneidad y la forma con que el clima actúa de diferente manera sobre la distribución de los mamíferos de montaña.

The Shifting Climate Portfolio of the Greater Yellowstone Area.

Knowledge of climatic variability at small spatial extents (< 50 km) is needed to assess vulnerabilities of biological reserves to climate change. We used empirical and modeled weather station data to test if climate change has increased the synchrony of surface air temperatures among 50 sites within the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) of the interior western United States. This important biological reserve is the largest protected area in the Lower 48 states and provides critical habitat for some of the world’s most iconic wildlife. We focused our analyses on temporal shifts and shape changes in the annual distributions of seasonal minimum and maximum air temperatures among valley-bottom and higher elevation sites from 1948–2012. We documented consistent patterns of warming since 1948 at all 50 sites, with the most pronounced changes occurring during the Winter and Summer when minimum and maximum temperature distributions increased. These shifts indicate more hot temperatures and less cold temperatures would be expected across the GYA. Though the shifting statistical distributions indicate warming, little change in the shape of the temperature distributions across sites since 1948 suggest the GYA has maintained a diverse portfolio of temperatures within a year. Spatial heterogeneity in temperatures is likely maintained by the GYA’s physiographic complexity and its large size, which encompasses multiple climate zones that respond differently to synoptic drivers. Having a diverse portfolio of temperatures may help biological reserves spread the extinction risk posed by climate change.

Analyses of Historical and Projected Climates to Support Climate Adaptation in the Northern Rocky Mountains

Most of the western United States is experiencing the effects of rapid and directional climate change (Garfin et al. 2013). These effects, along with forecasts of profound changes in the future, provide strong motivation for resource managers to learn about and prepare for future changes. Climate adaptation plans are based on an understanding of historic climate variation and their effects on ecosystems and on forecasts of future climate trends. Frameworks for climate adaptation thus universally identify the importance of a summary of historical, current, and projected climates (Glick, Stein, and Edelson 2011; Cross et al. 2013; Stein et al. 2014). Trends in physical climate variables are usually the basis for evaluating the exposure component in vulnerability assessments. Thus, this chapter focuses on step 2 of the Climate-Smart Conservation framework (chap. 2): vulnerability assessment. We present analyses of historical and current observations of temperature, precipitation, and other key climate measurements to provide context and a baseline for interpreting the ecological impacts of projected climate changes.