EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

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The Wily Daurian Pika

Credit & Copyright:  Dr. Bruce G. Marcot
  

Explanation:  This is not a mouse.  Or a miniature rabbit.  Peering from a rockshelter crevice is a Daurian pika, related to rabbits and a denizen of the vast steppe country of central Asia of Mongolia, central China, and southern Russia.   Pikas are diminutive and rather incessantly active.  During the summer, they collect and cache vegetation to create what are termed haypiles to see them through the long cold winters.  In fact, studies have shown that haypiles are key to their survival (Zhong et al. 2008).   Daurian pikas dig burrows and tend to be absent where grasslands are grazed more heavily, especially by domestic livestock (Komonen et al. 2003).    The Daurian pika is notable for the white edging around the ears, and the toes being covered in dense hair.    Active during the day, it is not unusual to see a number of them scurrying around open grasslands and mountain slopes in search of plants and forbs ... or, like this fellow, taking a moment for a nice scratch.    Daurian pikas seek forbs rich in proteins and lipid fats, which they store in haypiles aboveground near their burrows. They select for plants different than those used by domestic livestock, so they are not competitors.  Regardless, they are thought to be agricultural pests and are often poisoned and eliminated.  In fact, their burrowing habit contributes to health of the steppe ecosystem by keeping soil friable and mixed with organic matter, and  by providing burrows that are used by other species.       So why do I call the Daurian pika "wily?" Several times I tried skulking up on one in the open steppe country of central Mongolia, only to have it vanish down an unseen burrow ... and then pop up behind me.  In fact, they live in territorial family groups, and a family burrow can have as many as 15 to 20 entrances, all to thwart predators (or ecologists).    Multiple burrow entrances.  Which one will he emerge from?   The wily Daurian pika.   Whether Duarian pikas are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, as are their North American cousins, is unstudied.     Information:      Komonen, M., A. Komonen, and A. Otgonsuren.  2003.  Durian pikas (Ochotona daurica) and grassland condition in eastern Mongolia.  Journal of Zoology 259(3):281-288.      Zhong, W., G. Wang, Q. Zhou, Z. Wan, and G. Wang.  2008.  Effects of winter food availability on the abundance of Daurian pikas (Ochotona dauurica) in Inner Mongolian grasslands.  Journal of Arid Environments 72(7):1383-1387.