Biology ETDs

Publication Date

Summer 7-28-2026

Abstract

Climate change is shifting thermal environments globally, driving range contractions, upslope movement, and poleward shifts across taxa. However, these changes are not uniform: microclimates, shaped by topography, can amplify or decouple operative temperatures from regional trends. The American pika is an ideal model for studying climate-driven population change given its strong site fidelity and thermal sensitivities. We re-surveyed 173 sites in Glacier National Park, originally surveyed in 2007-2010, using an AIC-based model selection to test competing local and regional hypotheses driving three demographic processes: persistence, colonization, and within-patch density change. Pika occupancy increased over the 15-year period, with a net gain of 11 occupied sites. The governing scale varied by process: distributional change was best explained by regional climate and metapopulation dynamics, whereas within-patch dynamics were best explained by local habitat conditions. These results highlight the importance of matching climate data scale to the demographic process being modeled.

Project Sponsors

Glacier National Park Conservancy; U.S. Forest Service; University of New Mexico

Language

English

Keywords

American pika, Ochotona princeps, climate change, scale-dependence, thermal refugia, microclimate

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Biology

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

UNM Biology Department

First Committee Member (Chair)

Matthew Hurteau

Second Committee Member

Gavin Jones

Third Committee Member

Christopher Marsh

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