image: Plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) view more
Credit: Image credit: Qingsheng Chi.
Pikas survive harsh winters by reducing their metabolism to conserve energy and, in some areas, by eating yak feces, researchers report. Related to rabbits, pikas are small mammals that live in the high-altitude meadows of the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, where winter temperatures can dip to -30 °C. John Speakman, Yanming Zhang, Dehua Wang, and colleagues examined how plateau pikas survive the harsh winters. The authors undertook a 13-year study to uncover how the animals, which are not capable of hibernation, cope with winter. Measured daily energy expenditures of two wild study populations were about 30% lower in winter than in summer. To determine how pikas achieve such reduction in energy expenditure, the authors filmed the animals' activities and implanted temperature-logging devices. The data revealed that pikas suppress body temperature, particularly in cold conditions, despite the lack of hibernation. Individuals living in areas with high densities of domestic yak populations were also observed eating yak feces--a finding confirmed by analyzing pika stomach contents for the presence of yak DNA. According to the authors, yak feces, an easily accessible and digestible food source, may help reduce foraging costs and explain why pikas are relatively more abundant in areas with yak, which compete with pikas for food.
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Article #21-00707: "Surviving winter on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau: Pikas suppress energy demands and exploit yak feces to survive winter," by John R. Speakman et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: John R. Speakman, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, CHINA; email: <j.speakman@abdn.ac.uk>
Multimedia available here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1oASXAdIzOKfqyDVHom-2ChPkvjwbYKkn?usp=sharing
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences