Are American pikas harbingers of changing conditions?
Free lecture by Erik Beever, US Geological Survey research ecologist
American pikas are denizens of rocky talus and lava-flow habitats in mountain ecosystems across western North America.
Mountain environments, cauldrons of climatic harshness, exhibit sharp topographic, vegetative, and climatic gradients.
Pikas are providing scientists with a model for assessing species vulnerability to warming temperatures.
Are other species and indicators in the animal kingdom equally sensitive to changing climate conditions and warming temperatures?
