Study: Geography, not genetics, influences American pika's response to climate change

A very large team of researchers from across the U.S. along with a few from Canada and Australia has found that geography is playing more of a role in how the American pika is responding to climate change than genetics. In their paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change, the group describes their exhaustive study of the small animal and what they found. Meagan Oldfather with the University of Colorado Boulder has published a News & Views piece in the same journal issue outlining the work by the team.

Alternatives to genetic affinity as a context for within-species response to climate

Integrating biogeography and behavioral ecology to rapidly address biodiversity loss

Genome-wide analysis reveals associations between climate and regional patterns of adaptive divergence and dispersal in American pikas

Temporal and geographic distribution of gut microbial enterotypes associated with host thermogenesis characteristics in plateau pikas

Revisiting talus and free-air temperatures after 50 years of change at an American pika (Ochotona princeps) study site in the Southern Rockies

Full article: Distribution, climatic relationships, and status of American pikas (Ochotona princeps) in the Great Basin, USA

Genomic variation in the American pika: signatures of geographic isolation and implications for conservation, BMC Ecology and Evolution

Geographic and taxonomic variation in adaptive capacity among mountain-dwelling small mammals: Implications for conservation status and actions - ScienceDirect