American pikas (Ochotona princeps) are widely recognized as a mammalian indicator of environmental change in alpine ecosystems because they have experienced climate-mediated declines in parts of their range. The La Sal Mountains of southeastern Utah harbor a unique population of pikas in an isolated range surrounded by low-elevation desert. Despite predictions that pikas in isolated ranges face stronger climate impacts than those in “mainland” ranges, this population has received little systematic study. Our research investigates whether pika stress is driven primarily by climate stressors shared among individuals or by unique characteristics of an individual’s territory. From 2018 to 2023, we conducted a mark-resight study. Each year, pikas were trapped, marked with colored ear tags, and sampled for scat to analyze fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM), a measure of stress. We used linear mixed models to test how FGM varied with predictors including annual climate, vegetation resources, microclimate, ectoparasite load, and body condition. We found that territory-level graminoid abundance, snowpack duration, and August temperature were strong predictors of stress. These results underscore the combined influence of shared climatic stressors and territory-specific factors. Our findings inform conservation, improve predictions of pika distributions under climate change, and emphasize the need for long-term, multi-scale studies.

Karli Weatherill is a recent graduate of Colorado Mesa University, where she earned her degree in Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology. Her research has focused on American pikas, examining their stress physiology and conservation in the La Sal Mountains, UT, under the mentorship of Johanna Varner. Her broader interests include mammalian responses to environmental change, physiology, and conservation, integrating field and laboratory approaches to advance understanding of species resilience. She is also committed to science communication and youth science education, with the goal of making science accessible and inspiring to diverse audiences. Karli plans to continue her academic career by pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree beginning in the fall.