I’m at almost 11,500 feet, hiking to our research sites in the Front Range when I hear chirping and turn to see a small mammal scurrying across the rocks. The large, rounded ears are a dead giveaway: I’m in the presence of an American pika and I very well might be the predator it’s attempting to warn the rest of its colony about. American pikas grow to be seven or eight inches in length, are brown and black to camouflage themselves amongst the rocks, and do not have a visible tail. They are one of the few animals in the lower 48 that can live out their entire lives above tree line in the alpine.
Pikas are herbivores, meaning they eat the grasses and wildflowers found in the high alpine. Because they have few options for food during the colder months, they spend the summer and fall drying food for the winter. They collect extra vegetation, lay it out on the rocks to dry (preventing mold later on), and store it in hay piles. They do not hibernate during winter, instead growing an incredibly thick coat of fur. This coat thins out somewhat in the warmer months, but still remains thick enough that pikas can easily overheat and die in prolonged temperatures as mild as 78 degrees Fahrenheit.
It is well-known that our polar regions are warming more rapidly than the rest of the planet, but this phenomenon occurs in the mountains as well. For species like the American pika, the consequences can be disastrous. Alpine environments are generally isolated from each other—often referred to as “islands in the sky”—which makes travel between suitable habitat nearly impossible. In addition, pikas already live at the tops of mountains so as other species move upward for relief from warmer temperatures, they have nowhere left to go.
Pika & Climate
Pikas are herbivores, meaning they eat the grasses and wildflowers found in the high alpine. Because they have few options for food during the colder months, they spend the summer and fall drying food for the winter. They collect extra vegetation, lay it out on the rocks to dry (preventing mold later on), and store it in hay piles. They do not hibernate during winter, instead growing an incredibly thick coat of fur. This coat thins out somewhat in the warmer months, but still remains thick enough that pikas can easily overheat and die in prolonged temperatures as mild as 78 degrees Fahrenheit.
It is well-known that our polar regions are warming more rapidly than the rest of the planet, but this phenomenon occurs in the mountains as well. For species like the American pika, the consequences can be disastrous. Alpine environments are generally isolated from each other—often referred to as “islands in the sky”—which makes travel between suitable habitat nearly impossible. In addition, pikas already live at the tops of mountains so as other species move upward for relief from warmer temperatures, they have nowhere left to go.
Pika & Climate