Presence of a small mammalian prey species in open habitat is dependent on refuge availability

Bhattacharyya, Sabuj; Dutta, Sutirtha; Adhikari, Bhupendra Singh; Rawat, G. S.

doi:10.1007/s13364-015-0234-0

Cited by 8 publications

(21 citation statements)

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“…The Royle's pika inhabits rock crevices in talus fields with a home range of approximately 50 m 2 (Bhattacharyya et al., ; Kawamichi, ). During 2014–2015, 104 rock talus habitats were surveyed and faecal pellets collected from five sites at elevations ranging between 2,600 and 4,450 m above sea level (a.s.l.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following Bhattacharyya et al. (), we selected 50 m 2 survey plots in each talus habitat, and these were searched for fresh piles of faecal pellets (moist, dark brown/black). One site (HAK) had only old (>2 months) faecal piles (light brown and dry).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…), shrubs (e.g., Rhododendron campanulatum and/or Vivernum sp .) and trees (e.g., Abies pindrow, A. spectabilis, Quercus semecarpifolia and Rhododendron arboretum ; Van Hees & Mead, ; Bhattacharyya et al., ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Royle's pika ( Ochotona roylei ) is a widely distributed alpine mammal found in rocky areas at elevations ranging from 2,400 to 5,000 m in the Himalayan region. It is found on rock talus and is an obligate herbivore species with limited dispersal ability due to its small body size and fairly narrow ecological niches (Bhattacharyya, Adhikari, & Rawat, ; Bhattacharyya, ; Bhattacharyya, Adhikari, & Rawat, ,b; Bhattacharyya, Dutta, Adhikari, & Rawat, ; Bhattacharyya & Smith, ). The Royle's pika is a diurnal species and produces distinct piles of faecal droppings (Bhattacharyya et al., ,b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We aimed to analyse faecal pellets using metabarcoding to identify the plants in the diet of the Royle's pika and examine the effects of talus characteristics, topography and plant richness; abundance; and seasonal dynamics (pre‐ and postmonsoon) on diet, across five sites in the western Himalaya, India. Food availability (plant species’ presence and abundance; Huntly, Smith, & Ivins, ; Dearing, , ; Wilkening et al., ; Bhattacharyya et al., , 2014a; Bhattacharyya & Ray, ), habitat topography (elevation, slope, aspect; Walker, Halfpenny, Walker, & Wessman, ; Deems, Birkeland, & Hansen, ; Wilkening et al., ; Rodhouse et al., ; Gurung et al., ) and predation risk (rock cover, crevice depth, distance to the nearest area of talus; Calkins, Beever, Boykin, Frey, & Andersen, ; Bhattacharyya et al., ,b; Castillo, Epps, Davis, & Cushman, ; Bhattacharyya et al., ) significantly impact the foraging ecology of the Royle's pika and potentially influence access to nutritive plants, and thereby affect individual fitness (Bhattacharyya, ). For talus‐dwelling Ochotona spp., talus size (area) and connectivity between talus are known to influence the habitat occupancy (Franken & Hik, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A diet rich in C₃ plants reveals the sensitivity of an alpine mammal to climate change

et al. 2018

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Plant-herbivore interactions provide critical insights into the mechanisms that govern the spatiotemporal distributions of organisms. These interactions are crucial to understanding the impacts of climate change, which are likely to have an effect on the population dynamics of alpine herbivores. The Royle's pika (Ochotona roylei, hereafter pika) is a lagomorph found in the western Himalaya and is dependent on alpine plants that are at risk from climate change. As the main prey of many carnivores in the region, the pika plays a crucial role in trophic interactions. We examined topographical features, plant genera presence and seasonal dynamics as drivers of the plant richness in the pika's diet across an elevational gradient (2,600-4,450 m). We identified 79 plant genera in the faecal pellets of pikas, of which 89% were forbs, >60% were endemic to the Himalaya, and 97.5% of the diet plant genera identified followed the C photosynthetic pathway. We found that, during the premonsoon season, the number of genera in the pika's diet decreased with increasing elevation. We demonstrate that a large area of talus supports greater plant diversity and, not surprisingly, results in higher species richness in the pika's diet. However, in talus habitat with deep crevices, pikas consumed fewer plant genera suggesting they may be foraging suboptimally due to predation risk. The continued increase in global temperature is expected to have an effect on the distribution dynamics of C plants and consequently influence pika diet and distribution, resulting in a significant negative cascading effect on the Himalayan ecosystem.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A diet rich in C₃ plants reveals the sensitivity of an alpine mammal to climate change

et al. 2018

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Noninvasive sampling reveals population genetic structure in the Royle’s pika, Ochotona roylei, in the western Himalaya

Bhattacharyya

Ishtiaq

2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Understanding population genetic structure of climate‐sensitive herbivore species is important as it provides useful insights on how shifts in environmental conditions can alter their distribution and abundance. Herbivore responses to the environment can have a strong indirect cascading effect on community structure. This is particularly important for Royle's pika (Lagomorpha: Ochotona roylei), a herbivorous talus‐dwelling species in alpine ecosystem, which forms a major prey base for many carnivores in the Himalayan arc. In this study, we used seven polymorphic microsatellite loci to detect evidence for recent changes in genetic diversity and population structure in Royle's pika across five locations sampled between 8 and 160 km apart in the western Himalaya. Using four clustering approaches, we found the presence of significant contemporary genetic structure in Royle's pika populations. The detected genetic structure could be primarily attributed to the landscape features in alpine habitat (e.g., wide lowland valleys, rivers) that may act as semipermeable barriers to gene flow and distribution of food plants, which are key determinants in spatial distribution of herbivores. Pika showed low inbreeding coefficients (F IS) and a high level of pairwise relatedness for individuals within 1 km suggesting low dispersal abilities of talus‐dwelling pikas. We have found evidence of a recent population bottleneck, possibly due to effects of environmental disturbances (e.g., snow melting patterns or thermal stress). Our results reveal significant evidence of isolation by distance in genetic differentiation (F ST range = 0.04–0.19). This is the first population genetics study on Royle's pika, which helps to address evolutionary consequences of climate change which are expected to significantly affect the distribution and population dynamics in this talus‐dwelling species.

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Insights from present distribution of an alpine mammal Royle’s pika (Ochotona roylei) to predict future climate change impacts in the Himalaya

Bhattacharyya

Mungi

Kawamichi³

et al. 2019

Reg Environ Change

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Presence of a small mammalian prey species in open habitat is dependent on refuge availability

Cited by 8 publications

References 46 publications

A diet rich in C₃ plants reveals the sensitivity of an alpine mammal to climate change

A diet rich in C₃ plants reveals the sensitivity of an alpine mammal to climate change

Noninvasive sampling reveals population genetic structure in the Royle’s pika, Ochotona roylei, in the western Himalaya

Insights from present distribution of an alpine mammal Royle’s pika (Ochotona roylei) to predict future climate change impacts in the Himalaya

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Presence of a small mammalian prey species in open habitat is dependent on refuge availability

Cited by 8 publications

References 46 publications

A diet rich in C3 plants reveals the sensitivity of an alpine mammal to climate change

A diet rich in C3 plants reveals the sensitivity of an alpine mammal to climate change

Noninvasive sampling reveals population genetic structure in the Royle’s pika, Ochotona roylei, in the western Himalaya

Insights from present distribution of an alpine mammal Royle’s pika (Ochotona roylei) to predict future climate change impacts in the Himalaya

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A diet rich in C₃ plants reveals the sensitivity of an alpine mammal to climate change

A diet rich in C₃ plants reveals the sensitivity of an alpine mammal to climate change