Are Alpine Species Disappearing? The Effects of Climate Change On Alpine Vertebrates In the Rocky Mountains Winter Ecology – Spring 2005 Mountain Research Station – University of Colorado, Boulder Chad Martens

Climate Change and the Alpine Is Our Climate Changing? Why Are Alpine Ecosystems a Good Place to Study Climate Change? How is Climate Change Broadly Affecting the Alpine? What Are the Effects of Climate Change On Alpine Vertebrates, specifically: * The Yellow-Bellied Marmot * The Pika * The White-Tailed Ptarmigan How do winter stresses corespond with climate change? What does the Future Hold For These Vertebrates? What can be done to prevent these species from dissapearing?

Is Our Climate Changing? Global average temperatures have increased by 0.6 degrees centigrade in the past 100 years Lowest elevation at which freezing occurs in mid-latitude mountains has climbed 150 meters since 1970 Sub-alpine firs and Engelmann spruces have moved 50 or 60 meters upslope since 1990 in Banff National Park

Why Is The Alpine A Good Ecosystem To Study Climate Change? Well defined boundaries of treeline-alpine ecotone (changes can be easily marked) The biota of the alpine is extremely sensitive to disruption “Space for time” comparisons (the most rapid changes in the smallest amount of time space) Fewer direct human influences to interfere with detection Species are essentially stranded (no place to go)

What Are the Broad Effects of Climate Change On the Alpine. Invasion of trees to alpine meadows Relative increase in height of treeline and timberline Increased snow cover and precipitation Changes in plant vegetation Increase of invasive species from lower elevations

How is Climate Change Affecting the Following Alpine Vertebrates: Yellow-Bellied Marmots Pikas White-Tailed Ptarmigans

The Yellow-Bellied Marmot (Marmota flaviventris) Characteristics that Make them Susceptible to Climate Change Need to consume a certain amount of vegetation in order to survive hibernation Marmots require treeless terrain in order to spot predators so: If trees invade the alpine, marmots could be more susceptible to hiding predators Limited suitable Habitat (disconnected “habitat islands”) Cannot easily migrate (especially through lower elevation valleys)

How Do Winter Stresses for Marmots Correspond with Climate Change? Marmots hibernate for the winter in order to avoid the harsh conditions There emergence from hibernation is based on temperature Marmots must immediately begin obtaining food when the emerge from hibernation, because they have usually used all of there fat reserves while hibernating over winter Maintaining body temperature in the spring without an adequate food supply increases stress

Climate Change And Yellow-Bellied Marmots Marmots have gone extinct in some Great Basin mountain ranges (Floyd 2004) Marmots are emerging from hibernation 38 days earlier than they were 23 years ago in response to warmer spring temperatures There is an average of 57cm more snow when marmots emerge than there was 23 years ago Even though temperatures are higher, there still might be persistent snowpack, which in turn: Severely limits available edible vegetation for emerging marmots and requires them to be euthermic (or drawing on remaining fate reserves Marmots could face starvation if temps continue to rise and increased snowfall continues

First Sighting of Marmots and Snowpack at First Sighting Graphs from RMBL

The Pika (Ochotona princeps) Characteristics that Make them Susceptible to Climate Change Limited suitable Habitat (disconnected “habitat islands”) Cannot easily migrate (especially through lower elevation valleys) Spend entire life within a half-mile radius Densely furred (cannot dissipate heat easily) Unable to survive even six hours in temperatures as low as 77 degrees Fahrenheit when not able to behaviorally thermo regulate

How Do Winter Stresses for Pikas Correspond with Climate Change? Pikas are highly active throughout the year so: They must gather and cure vegetation throughout summer for over winter survival Hot temperatures force pikas inside, therefore reducing there amount of food High activity in the hot summer months can create direct thermal stress Early maturation of vegetation associated with increased temperatures can increase stress Increased snow cover limits foraging

Climate Change and the Pika “American pikas are like the canary in the coal mine” Caterina Cardosa (WWF) In the past 86 years, Pikas have vanished from 9 out of 25 or 36% of the test sites in the Great Basin. In a study published in 2003, pika populations were detected in only five out of seven re- surveyed sites that had pikas in the mid to late 1990’s.

The White-Tailed Ptarmigan (Lagopus leucurus Characteristics that make them susceptible to Climate Change Heavy plumage (feathered legs, feet, and nostrils) Die from overheating when temperatures exceed 95 degrees Fahrenheit for one Can only survive in very selective habitats

How Do Winter Stresses for Ptarmigans Correspond with Climate Change Ptarmigans are dependent on snow drifts for protected roosting hollows, so If climate change reduces snowfall and protection is reduced, ptarmigans can die from exposure In winters with extreme weather, reproduction and subsequent recruitment are lowered High winter minimum, high mean monthly, and high mean winter monthly temperatures retard growth rates

Climate Change and the White-Tailed Ptarmigan Decline to about 1/3 of its peak size Decline in populations form 1975 to 1990 Heavy and persistent spring snowfall delayed nesting success and decreased breeding by four times the natural rate Median hatch dates advanced significantly (about 15 days) from 1975 to 1999 in response to increase temperatures in April and May Future warming will accelerate declines of ptarmigan abundance *The CCC (Canadian Climate Center) predicts a temperature increase of 2.3 degrees centigrade by 2030 *This prediction coupled with the Ricker ptarmigan populations study suggests that in the area studied there might be a decline from 30 to 40 ptarmigans today to only 2 or 3 individuals by 2030!

What Does the Future Hold For These Vertebrates? While other species are able to migrate to higher elevation in response to climate change, these species can only move so high before they run out of room A warming of 3 degrees centigrade over the next century will wipe out 80% of alpine islands, and extinguish a third to a half of 613 alpine plants (Mark 03)

Conclusions  Alpine vertebrates are extremely susceptible to the effects of global warming  There has been a decline in marmots, pikas, and ptarmigans, since populations began to be recorded  Alpine ecosystems can be used as a barometer to study climate change  If the global warming trend continues, we could see a loss in most or many alpine species

What Can Be Done To Prevent These Species From Disappearing?  Retard the effects of global warming by switching to clean renewable energy  Promote more research on climate change  Promote more research on alpine ecosystems

References David W. Inouye et al.(2000) Climate change is affecting altitudinal migrants and hibernating species. Floyd, Ch.(2004) Marmot distribution and habitat associations in the Great Basin. Krajick, Kevin. (2004) All Downhill From Here? Guiming Wang et al. (2002) Relationships between climate and population dynamics of white-tailed ptarmigan in RMNP. Brown, Paul. (2003) American pika doomed as ‘first mammal victim of climate change.’ Beever, Erik. Latest census finds more American pika populations disappear as climate warms. Gellhorn, Joyce. (2003) Song of the Alpine Baron, Jill S. (2003) Rocky Mountain Futures: An Ecological Perspective