The American Pika: Nature's little biochemist

#climatechange #rabbit #phenols A talus slope high in the Wasatch mountains of utah. Seemingly inhospitable without much food or water on its rocky surface, it will soon become even more extreme when winter arrives and the whole area is buried under snow. Despite these harsh environmental conditions, this is the habitat of one of the cutest mammals in the world; the American Pika. It is lagomorph not a rodent. They seem to get almost all the water they need from eating vegetation overcoming that particular challenge of this habitat. Unlike some of the rodents that sometimes share this rocky domain, Pika don’t hibernate in winter. They make hay piles, collecting vegetation all summer creating a big stack of plant material. Bacteria and fungi could start to grow and devastate the pika’s food stores. The pika fortunately has a solution, take advantage of plant biochemistry. To combat herbivory some plants produce secondary metabolites, toxins to protect themselves. One such toxin are phenol-containing compounds. Phenols are employed by various plants to combat fungus and bacteria. The pika has learned to co-opt the biochemistry of alpine phenol-rich plants for their own purposes. While the Pika itself cannot stand large amounts of these toxins, over time, these phenols will break down in dead plant material. This gives them something to eat latter in winter. Unfortunately, pika are now threatened by changes in global temperatures; unable to cope with temperatures above 25.5 degrees Celsius, or 78 degrees fahrenheit for more than a few hours. This means as the planet warms The future of these cute mountain biochemists is uncertain.

Sources
Smith, Andrew T.; Weston, Marla L. (1990-04-26). "Ochotona princeps" (PDF). Mammalian Species. The American Society of Mammalogists. 352 (352): 1–8. doi:10.2307/3504319. JSTOR 3504319. Retrieved 2009-10-02.

Martin, J. W. 1982. Southern pika (Ochotona princeps) biology and ecology: a literature review.

Dearing, D. M. 1997. The Manipulation of Plant Toxins by a Food-Hoarding Herbivore, Ochotona Princeps. Ecology. Vol. 78, No. 3, pp. 774-781

Smith, A.T. (November 1974). "The distribution and dispersal of pikas: influences of behavior and climate". Ecology. 55 (6): 1368–1376. doi:10.2307/1935464. JSTOR 1935464.


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This is Backyard Expeditions. Here you can find wildlife footage and short documentaries on the natural world. Nature is full of surprises, often amazing things are happening just feet from you door. I am a biology student who was inspired by the likes of the BBC natural history unit, PBS, and animal planet as a Child. I have also long been a hobbyist photographer, filming interesting things over time. My goal is to document interesting behavior and highlight interesting species I encounter both in exotic locations, and on backyard expeditions.



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