Andrew Smith

Arizona State University | ASU · school of life sciences

The American Pika (Ochotona princeps) has been considered a species at risk due to warming temperatures associated with climate change. Many life-history attributes of pikas contribute to the sensitivity of pikas to warming temperatures. Repeated censuses of a marginal (warm, low-elevation) population of pikas at Bodie State Historic Park, Californ...

Quetions: Traditional pastoralists attribute high numbers of plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) to impoverished soils that favor more and better forage for pika, suggesting a bottom-up control of pika density. Conversely, government policies focus on excessive numbers of this small mammalian herbivore as the primary top-down cause of degradation in...

American pikas (Ochotona princeps), small mammals related to rabbits, occur in mountainous regions of western North America, where they live in shattered‐rock habitats (talus). Aspects of their physiology and life history create situations that appear to put pikas at risk from warming climates. Some low‐elevation, warm sites that historically harbo...

Human exploitation of wildlife for food, medicine, curios, aphrodisiacs, and spiritual artifacts represents a mounting 21st-century conservation challenge. Here, we provide the first global assessment of illegal marine turtle exploitation across multiple spatial scales (i.e., Regional Management Units [RMUs] and countries) by collating data from pe...

Questions Traditional pastoralists attribute high numbers of plateau pikas ( Ochotona curzoniae ) to impoverished soils that favor more and better forage for pika, suggesting a bottom‐up control of pika density. Conversely, government policies focus on excessive numbers of this small mammalian herbivore as the primary top‐down cause of degradation...

We investigated factors leading to variation in social complexity or ‘social systems’ among plateau pika family groups within a contiguous local population across 2 years. Plateau pikas are small, diurnal, nonhibernating, sexually monomorphic lagomorphs that occupy family home ranges on open alpine meadows on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Expression...

The American pika (Ochotona princeps) is commonly perceived as a species that is at high risk of extinction due to climate change. The purpose of this review is two-fold: to evaluate the claim that climate change is threatening pikas with extinction, and to summarize the conservation status of the American pika. Most American pikas inhabit major co...

The distribution and abundance of the white-tailed jackrabbit Lepus townsendii have declined significantly since 1950, continuing a trend that began in some regions of its range in the late 1800s. We reviewed museum records and the literature to evaluate the status of the white-tailed jackrabbit in each state and province in its historical range an...

The distribution and abundance of the white-tailed jackrabbit Lepus townsendii have declined significantly since 1950, continuing a trend that began in some regions of its range in the late 1800s. We reviewed museum records and the literature to evaluate the status of the white-tailed jackrabbit in each state and province in its historical range an...

Mammals rely on habitat resources for survival and reproduction. We studied microhabitats used by plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Microhabitat features used by pikas include sedge meadows that provide forage, burrows that provide safety from predators and cover for nests, degraded open-dirt patches, and edges betw...

Plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae), burrowing lagomorphs endemic to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), are considered pests by Chinese authorities because of their association with grasslands that are characterized as degraded. Officials typically blame pikas for causing the degraded conditions, whereas studies increasingly suggest that sparse vege...

Many wildlife populations are either naturally, or as a result of human land use, patchily‐distributed in space. The degree of fragmentation—specifically the remaining patch sizes and habitat configuration—is an important part of population dynamics. Demographic stochasticity is also likely to play an important role in patchy habitats that host sma...

A prediction that has gained considerable traction in the American pika (Ochotona princeps) literature is that because of climate change, high mortality is likely to occur in winters of low or early snowmelt and cause extirpation of local populations. The basis for this prediction is the perception that the absence of an insulative layer of snow to...

Ensuring the conservation of wild relatives of domesticated animals that are important food sources for humans forms part of targets for both the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). There is, however, no indicator allowing progress toward these aims to be measured. We identified 30 domesticated mamm...

Plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae), burrowing lagomorphs endemic to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), are considered pests by Chinese authorities because of their association with grasslands that are characterized as degraded. Officials typically blame pikas for causing the degraded conditions, whereas studies increasingly suggest that sparse vege...

To advance understanding of the distribution, climatic relationships, and status of American pikas (Ochotona princeps) in the Great Basin, United States, we compiled 2,387 records of extant pika sites surveyed since 2005, 89 records of documented extirpated sites (resurvey of historic sites), and 774 records of sites with old sign only. Extant site...

Ochotona princeps (American pika) species account

Understanding a species' functional traits allows for a directed and productive perspective on the role a species plays in nature, thus its relative importance to conservation planning. The functional trait ecology of the plateau pika Ochotona curzoniae (Hodgson, 1858) is examined to better understand the resilience and sustainability of the high a...

Numbering 92 species worldwide, the order Lagomorpha is a focal point of conservation efforts. Approximately one-quarter of all lagomorphs are under conservation concern, and a few are quite literally on the brink of extinction. Here, leading conservation biologist Andrew T. Smith and his colleagues bring together the world’s lagomorph experts in t...

China's South–North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP) has the potential to transfer as much as 44.8 km³ year⁻¹ of water from the Yangtze River basin to the Yellow River basin. However, the SNWTP has not been assessed from a sustainability perspective. Thus, in this study we evaluated the SNWTP's economic, social, and environmental impacts by reviewing...

The behavioral ecology of the American pika (Ochotona princeps) was investigated at a relatively hot south-facing, low-elevation site in the Mono Craters, California, a habitat quite different from the upper montane regions more typically inhabited by this species and where most prior investigations have been conducted. Mono Craters pikas exhibited...

China's South-North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP) is the longest and largest water transfer project in world history. However, the evaporative loss from SNWTP is still unclear. Here we estimated the water loss by evaporation from the open canal and reservoir of the Middle Route of SNWTP (MR-SNWTP), based on field experiments and three mathematical...

15 Volume 6 of the Handbook of the Mammals of the World presents a thorough synthesis of the mam-malian clade Glires, consisting of the orders Lagomorpha and Rodentia. The number of species in each of these two orders is in constant flux as new species are described, recognized forms are split into multiple previously cryptic species, and previousl...

The plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae), a small burrowing lagomorph that occupies the high alpine grasslands of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), has been subject to a massive eradication campaign in China since the late 1950′s under the assumption that it promotes grassland degradation. However, mounting evidence suggests that pikas are a keystone...

The order Lagomorpha comprises about 90 living species, divided in two families: the pikas (Family Ochotonidae), and the rabbits, hare and jackrabbits (Family Leporidae). Lagomorphs are important economically and scientifically as a major human food resource, valued game species, pests of agricultural significance, model laboratory animals, and key...

Livestock grazing is the principal land use in arid central Asia, and range degradation is considered a serious problem within much of the high-elevation region of western China termed the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). Rangeland degradation on the QTP is variously attributed to poor livestock management, historical-cultural factors, changing land...

Rangeland degradation has been identified as a serious concern in alpine regions of western China on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau (QTP). Numerous government-sponsored programs have been initiated, including many that feature long-term grazing prohibitions and some that call for eliminating pastoralism altogether. As well, government programs have lo...

Population resilience in a metapopulation of American pikas (Ochotona princeps) at Bodie, California, was investigated with a series of 18 detailed occupancy surveys conducted between 1989 and 2010. These were compared with earlier 1972 and 1977 censuses and earlier historical records of pikas at Bodie. There is concern that American pikas may be i...

With approximately 20 % of the world's population living in its downstream watersheds, the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) is considered "Asia's Water Tower." However, grasslands of the QTP, where most of Asia's great rivers originate, are becoming increasingly degraded, which leads to elevated population densities of a native small mammal, the plate...

Great Bustards were once familiar inhabitants of the steppe zones of Central Asia. Today , remnant populations are small and isolated, and the species is red-listed across this portion of its range. We review what is known about the historical status of the Great Bustard in Central Asia and the species' migratory patterns in this region. We also di...

China's breathtaking diversity of natural habitats--from mountains and deserts to grasslands and lush tropical forests--is home to more than 10 percent of the world's mammal species. This one-of-a-kind pocket guide describes the characteristics, geographic distribution, natural history, and conservation status of all 558 species of mammals found in...

The neotropical primate family Pitheciidae consists of four genera Cacajao (uacaris), Callicebus (titis), Chiropotes (bearded sakis) and Pithecia (sakis), whose 40+ species display a range of sizes, social organisations, ecologies and habitats. Few are well known and the future survival of many is threatened, yet pitheciines have been little studie...

Previous studies have used home range size to predict a species’ vulnerability to forest fragmentation. Northern bearded saki monkeys (Chiropotes satanas chiropotes) are medium-bodied frugivores with large home ranges, but sometimes they reside in forest fragments that are smaller than the species’ characteristic home range size. Here we examine ho...

The range of the great bustard stretches 10 000 km across Eurasia, one of the largest ranges of any threatened species. While movement patterns of the western subspecies of great bustard are relatively well-understood, this is the first research to monitor the movements of the more endangered Asian subspecies of great bustard through telemetry and...

Forest fragmentation demonstrably alters plant species composition, distribution, and diversity, and, in turn, may affect the availability of food resources for primary consumers. We investigated to what extent fragmentation affected the diets of 6 groups of bearded saki monkeys (Chiropotes chiropotes) living in two 10-ha fragments, two 100-ha ''fr...

Melanism is a common phenomenon in the animal kingdom. While the occurrence of melanism in lagomorphs has been less studied, this phenomenon has led to systematic confusion among different forms of pikas (Ochotona) and hares (Lepus). Within Ochotona, the Pianma black pika (O. nigritia) was established primarily based on its pelage phenotype variati...

The Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) is a flagship species of the boreal forest ecosystem in northeastern China and Russia Far East. During the past century, the tiger population has declined sharply from more than 3000 to fewer than 600 individuals, and its habitat has become much smaller and greatly fragmented. Poaching, habitat degradation,...

Small mammals, such as European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) and prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.), traditionally have been perceived as pests and targeted for control within their native ranges, where they perform essential ecosystem roles and are considered keystone species. These species can reach high densities,...

Reproduction in a population of marked pikas (Ochotonaprinceps) was observed over a 3-year period in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Pikas were seasonally polyestrous; all adult females initiated two litters each summer. However, most females (24 of 25) weaned only a single litter. The number of successfully weaned litters and offspring was divide...

With the accelerating human consumption of natural resources, the problems associated with endangered species caused by habitat loss and fragmentation have become greater and more urgent than ever. Conceptually associated with the theories of island biogeography, population viability analysis (PVA) has been one of the most important approaches in s...

Assessing Biodiversity Declines Understanding human impact on biodiversity depends on sound quantitative projection. Pereira et al. (p. 1496 , published online 26 October) review quantitative scenarios that have been developed for four main areas of concern: species extinctions, species abundances and community structure, habitat loss and degradati...

Background/Question/Methods The highly-social plateau pika (Lagomorpha: Ochotona curzoniae) excavates vast burrow complexes in alpine meadows on the Tibetan Plateau. Colonies of 380 individuals per hectare have been reported. As an ecosystem engineer, their burrowing may positively impact ecosystem health by increasing plant species diversity, enha...

Habitat loss and fragmentation are global conservation concerns, but animal species do not respond to these threats in the same manner. At the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP), located 80 km north of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil, the distribution and persistence of six native primate species differ among fragments that were isola...

Adult spatial relationships and social organization in a marked population of alpine mammals, the pika (Ochotona princeps), were studied over a 3-year period in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Home range size, distances between centers of activity of dyads, and weighted overlaps of home ranges of dyads were used to define space use patterns. Disap...

Historically, a large number of taxonomic forms has been recognized within Nearctic pikas (Lagomorpha: Ochotonidae; Ochotona), including up to 13 species and 37 subspecies. After 1965, 2 species and 37 forms have been recognized: the monotypic O. collaris of Alaska, British Columbia, Yukon, and Northwest Territories, and O. princeps, with 36 subspe...

We investigated behavioral differences among seven groups of northern bearded saki monkeys (Chiropotes satanas chiropotes) living in five forest fragments and two areas of continuous forest at the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project study area, located approximately 80km north of Manaus, Brazil. We collected data in six research cycles...

With about half the world's human population and booming economies, Asia faces numerous challenges to its biodiversity. The Asia Section of the Society for Conservation Biology has identified some key policy issues in which significant progress can be made. These include developing new sources of funding for forest conservation; identifying potenti...

Background/Question/Methods The plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) is a small mammal endemic to the Tibetan Plateau, where its highly-social colonies build extensive underground burrow systems. In spite of evidence pointing to their role as a keystone species and ecosystem engineer, plateau pikas are intensively poisoned throughout their range. The...

Accurate estimates of a primate's home range are important, yet methods vary greatly. This paper examines the accuracy of minimum convex polygon (MCP), adaptive kernel (AK) and fixed kernel (FK) estimators by comparing home range estimates of northern bearded saki monkeys (Chiropotes satanas chiropotes) living in forest fragments and continuous for...

We evaluated factors that permit species coexistence in an exceptional assemblage of similar raptor species at the Naurzum Zapovednik (a national nature reserve) in north-central Kazakhstan. White-tailed Sea-Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca), Golden Eagle (A. chrysaetos), and Steppe Eagle (A. nipalensis) all breed at the...

Knowledge of mammalian diversity is still surprisingly disparate, both regionally and taxonomically. Here, we present a comprehensive assessment of the conservation status and distribution of the world's mammals. Data, compiled by 1700+ experts, cover all 5487 species, including marine mammals. Global macroecological patterns are very different for...

Knowledge of mammalian diversity is still surprisingly disparate, both regionally and taxonomically. Here, we present a comprehensive assessment of the conservation status and distribution of the world's mammals. Data, compiled by 1700+ experts, cover all 5487 species, including marine mammals. Global macroecological patterns are very different for...

Random dispersal direction is assumed in all current metapopulation models. This assumption is called into question by recent experiments demonstrating that some species disperse preferentially to sites occupied by conspecifies. We incorporate conspecific attraction into two metapopulation models which differ in type of dispersal, the Levins model...

The 30 currently recognized living species of pika (Ochotonidae: Genus Ochotona) comprise approximately one-third of all lagomorphs. The Leporidae, in contrast, contains 32 species of hare (Genus Lepus) and 29 species of rabbit (multiple genera; Hoffmann and Smith 2005). Both traditional (morphological) and molecular evidence indicates that the Och...

There is a widely held perception that all lagomorphs are fecund (“they breed like rabbits”) and are sufficiently generalist in their ecology such that they can be considered amply buffered from environmental change and thus be unlikely candidates to appear on lists of threatened species. It is true that many lagomorph species fit this perception;...

From May to August of 2005 and 2006, the age structure and sex ratio within family groups of plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) were studied in Maqin County, Qinghai Province, by mark-recapture method. The result indicated that in May the family groups were composed of adults and first-litters (male: Adult, 47%; Juvenile, 53%; female: Adult, 40%; J...

From May to August of 2005 and 2006, the home range and core area within social groups of plateau pikas ( Ochotona curzoniae) were studied in Maqin Country, Qinghai Province, by mark-recapture and minimum convex polygon methods. Home range and core area sizes were significantly different among different months. In May and June home range sizes of a...

We evaluated the relationship between spatial variability in prey and food habits of eastern imperial eagles Aquila heliaca at a 90,000 ha national nature reserve in north-central Kazakhstan. Eagle diet varied greatly within the population and the spatial structure of eagle diet within the population varied according to the scale of measurement. Pa...

The demographic consequences of within-population variability in predator foraging are not well understood. We assessed the relationship between the degree of diet specialization and two demographic parameters, population density and reproductive output, within a single population of Imperial Eagles Aquila heliaca at a nature reserve in north-centr...

Old world vultures are thought to partition or compete for several types of resources. In spite of the potential for competition, patterns in resource availability and population density can sometimes allow species that might otherwise compete to have considerable overlap in resource use. On the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibetan) plateau, China, we observed...

The plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) of the Qinghai–Xizang (Tibetan) plateau, People's Republic of China, has been considered a pest because it putatively competes with native livestock for forage and contributes to rangeland degradation. As a result the plateau pika has been poisoned across vast areas of the high alpine meadows of the plateau. Th...

We evaluated factors that permit species coexistence in an exceptional assemblage of similar raptor species at the Naurzum Zapovednik (a national nature reserve) in north-central Kazakhstan. White-tailed Sea-Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca), Golden Eagle (A. chrysaetos), and Steppe Eagle (A. nipalensis) all breed at the...

Patch occupancy surveys are commonly used to parameterize metapopulation models. If isolation predicts patch occupancy, this is generally attributed to a balance between distance-dependent recolonization and spatially independent extinctions. We investigated whether similar patterns could also be generated by a process of spatially correlated extin...

We were pleased to see the attention afforded bioinformatics for biodiversity in Science 's special issue on the topic (29 Sept., pp. [2305][1]-[2314][2]). It is essential that informatics technology be devoted to increasing our understanding of Earth's taxonomic diversity and to developing means to

Evolutionary theory suggests that mating systems should have substantial effects on gene dynamics of local populations. In polygynous species, local ‘breeding groups’ may produce significant genetic structure, due to genetic differences among groups, and rate of loss of genetic variation from such populations may be considerably slowed. We examined...

It is necessary to look at the big picture when managing biological resources on the Qinghai—Xizang (Tibetan) plateau. Plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) are poisoned widely across the plateau. Putative reasons for these control measures are that pika populations may reach high densities and correspondingly reduce forage for domestic livestock (yak...

It is necessary to look at the big picture when managing biological resources on the Qinghai-Xizang (Tibetan) plateau. Plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) are poisoned widely across the plateau. Putative reasons for these control measures are that pika populations may reach high densities and correspondingly reduce forage for domestic livestock (yak...