Functional‐trait ecology of the plateau pika Ochotona curzoniae in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau ecosystem

Abstract

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 alpine grasslands of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). The key functional traits of plateau pikas are their abundance and behavior of digging extensive burrow systems. Plateau pikas have been poisoned over a significant part of their original geographic distribution across the QTP, allowing comparison of ecological communities with and without pikas. Nearly all mammalian and avian carnivores, most of which are obligate predators on pikas, have been lost in regions where pikas have been poisoned. Most endemic birds on the QTP nest in pika burrows; when pikas are poisoned, burrows collapse, and these birds are greatly reduced in number. Due to the biopedturbation resulting from their burrows, regional plant species richness is higher in areas with pikas than without. The presence of pika burrows allows higher rates of infiltration during heavy monsoon rains compared to poisoned areas, possibly mitigating runoff and the potential for serious downslope erosion and flooding. Thus the functional traits of plateau pikas enhance native biodiversity and other important ecosystem functions; these traits are irreplaceable. As plateau pikas are not natural colonizers, active re-introduction programs are needed to restore pikas to areas from which they have been poisoned to restore the important functional ecological traits of pikas.

Modeling the Spatial Distribution of Plateau Pika (Ochotona curzoniae) in the Qinghai Lake Basin, China

“…Plateau pika ( Ochotona curzoniae ) is one of the main native soil faunas on the QTP, with short limbs, rounded ears and no external tail. It is a small (roughly 170 g) social, burrowing, non-hibernating lagomorph that can attain high population densities [3]. The plateau pika has been traditionally considered as a pest because it competes with livestock for forage and contributes to rangeland degradation [4,5].…”

“…The plateau pika has been traditionally considered as a pest because it competes with livestock for forage and contributes to rangeland degradation [4,5]. However, some ecologists have indicated that the plateau pika helps accelerate the soil nitrogen cycle, increases plant species richness and biodiversity of birds and predatory animals and contributes positively to ecosystem-level dynamics; thus, it has been classified as a keystone species and an ecosystem engineer on the QTP [3,6]. Practically, the population density of plateau pika is an important index for evaluating its ecological function [7,8].…”

The plateau pika has multiple benefits for alpine grassland ecosystem in Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

“…Pika's burrow helps reducing the potential of erosion following summer heavy raining. Thus, the pika appears to be both an ecosystem engineer and a keystone species in the alpine meadow ecosystem (Wilson and Smith, 2015;Smith et al, 2019).…”

“…The pika is an important indicator of ecosystem health and serves to maintain grassland biodiversity on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. They are important food sources for predators (Lai and Smith, 2003;Smith et al, 2019), indicator of ecological health, eat some plant species that are poisonous for livestock, reducing the potential for surface runoff following heavy rainfall (Wilson and Smith, 2015). In addition, the plateau pika appears to be both an ecosystem engineer (Smith et al, 2019) and a keystone species (Lai and Smith, 2003) in Qinghai-Tibetan alpine ecosystem.…”

“…They are important food sources for predators (Lai and Smith, 2003;Smith et al, 2019), indicator of ecological health, eat some plant species that are poisonous for livestock, reducing the potential for surface runoff following heavy rainfall (Wilson and Smith, 2015). In addition, the plateau pika appears to be both an ecosystem engineer (Smith et al, 2019) and a keystone species (Lai and Smith, 2003) in Qinghai-Tibetan alpine ecosystem. Thus, the plateau pika multiply benefits for alpine grassland ecosystem in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, we suggest that the plateau pika should be removed as a harmful rodents and stop eliminating them.…”