Doug Von Gausig

The American pika can only survive within a narrow temperature band and can suffer heat stroke at temperatures as mild as 80 degrees.

The California Fish and Game Commission is asking for public input on the status of the American pika. The small, alpine mammal has been at the center of a prolonged debate over whether to list it under the Endangered Species Act. If the pika ultimately wins endangered status it would be the first species to do so with climate change cited as a major factor contributing to its decline. The Center for Biological Diversity originally petitioned for the pika to receive protected status, considering it to be a bellwether for climate change in California.

Matt Weiser recaps the the pika saga for the Sacramento Bee:

“In 2009, the state Fish and Game Commission considered and rejected protecting the pika under the California Endangered Species Act. At the time, there was limited evidence that pika numbers in the Sierra Nevada and elsewhere were shrinking due to climate change.

Subsequent research, however, provided some clues that, in fact, the pika’s habitat was shrinking upward as lower reaches of its range warmed, resulting in population losses in the Bodie and Lassen regions. The environmental group Center for Biological Diversity argued that the state should conduct a new status review, and then filed suit when it did not.

A San Francisco Superior Court judge agreed in February 2011, leading to the status review now under way. The Department of Fish and Game is now seeking comments from the public and experts on pika ecology, biology, life history, distribution, abundance, threats, essential habitat and recommendations for management.”

Scientists have been divided over whether the critter is a legitimate candidate for listing. Climate Watch has been keeping an eye on the pika’s plight for several years, with blog posts and radio stories dating back to 2009.

Field biologists like Mike Sally live a windblown, nomadic lifestyle, surveying sites for renewable energy projects. (Photo: Sarah McBride)

By Sarah McBride

I’ve reported on bubbles in plenty of stocks and commodities, but my springtime visit to the Ivanpah Valley was the first I’d heard anyone talk about a bubble in field biologists. The guy who used those words, Alex Mach, is a field biologist himself — and he was only half kidding.

Mach is one of dozens of field biologists who are out in the desert working to protect threatened animals and plants from solar and wind development projects. They’ve tapped into the rich vein of desert tortoises, whose habitats coincide with many of the areas scientists say are best positioned for solar plants — including Mach’s worksite at the time, BrightSource Energy’s solar plant in Ivanpah Valley, near the California-Nevada border.

Biologists Alex Mach and Molly Thompson in Ivanpah Valley. (Photo: Sarah McBride)

But it’s not just tortoises. Kit foxes, kangaroo rats, and several species of lizards all need monitoring if an alternative-energy plant is headed into their habitats. I visited a small group of field biologists near Mojave, who were surveying to see if the rare Mohave ground squirrel lives on a proposed wind-farm site. (They asked me not to disclose the name of the big wind-energy company, because they didn’t have permission to show a journalist around.) They plan to spend months checking traps stuffed with oats and peanut butter. So far, they’ve found only everyday squirrels.

The work is so attractive the biologists don’t mind spending months at a time living out of their trucks. The paychecks are a factor, but they say the bigger draws are the community, freedom and chance to work outside.

Could Mach be right? Proposed plants are fighting for limited financing, which means we could be living through the field biology equivalent of tulipmania or the tech bubble.  At least your retirement savings likely aren’t invested in desert tortoises.

Sarah McBride is a former freelance journalist, now working for Thomson Reuters. Her companion radio feature to this post airs today on The California Report weekly magazine.

Photo: Copyright 2006, Doug Von Gausig

The American pika has begun a long-delayed journey toward possible listing under the Endangered Species Act.  It could become the first mammal in the Lower 48, let alone California, to be listed as specifically threatened by global warming.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service agreed today to review the petition, as part of a court settlement with San Francisco’s Center for Biological Diversity.

Under the settlement, negotiated by lawyers with Earthjustice, the agency commits to a May deadline for determining whether the cartoon-cute alpine critter merits consideration for federal protection.

Pika live in rock colonies only at high elevation (usually above 9,000 feet, though some have been documented lower). They’re well insulated against the harsh mountain environment but can suffer heat stroke at temperatures approaching 80 F.

As alpine temperatures increase with global warming, conservationists worry that the pika will be driven further upslope and eventually out of existence.

Back in the fall of 2007, CBD petitioned for listing under both the federal and California ESA’s. The feds more or less ignored the request. California turned it down flat, saying there was insufficient data to warrant a review. There was also some sentiment on the commission that using global warming as a basis for listing any species would be setting an uncomfortable precedent. CBD sued both agencies and the California case is still in court.

Not all scientists are convinced that the pika’s in trouble. Find out why in our Climate Watch radio feature, Monday morning on The California Report. Listen to the story here.

By the way, “boulder bunny” is a fairly accurate description. They may look like rodents but pika are actually relatives of rabbits and hares.

Audio recording provided by Doug Von Gausig and NatureSongs.com