Wildlife Response to Climate Change in the Western US: Learning from Indicator Species

Measuring, Understanding and Predicting wildlife response to climate change is a pressing matter since there is widespread concern about impacts on population persistence and whether or not sensitive species will be able to adapt. Research is needed to inform conservation strategies for species that are most susceptible and indicative of rapid climate change, such as hibernators. We are taking advantage of historical data on Uinta ground squirrel populations (hibernators endemic to the Western US) to 1) Measure climate-driven variability in their phenology and demography over a 50-year period; 2) Understand how ecological processes mediate this variability in light of climate change; and 3) Predict their ability to adapt to climate change using eco-evolutionary models. Our findings will have important conservation implications for hibernating and alpine species in the Intermountain West, worldwide, and for the suite of species that depend on small mammals for persistence