As climate changes many animals will move, adapt, or become locally extinct. This study examines how an alpine grouse, the White-tailed Ptarmigan, is responding to climate and habitat changes and will assess the potential for adaptation in the future. The study is split into four parts. 1. Examine the demography of ptarmigan at Logan Pass and other locations within the park, 2. Locate and assess habitat of late summer flocks with the addition of thermal stress data, 3. Collect genetic samples from blood and feathers of captured individuals to assess genetic populations, structure, and isolation within the park, 4. Examine the hormonal impacts of changing climate through the collection of blood and feces to indicate stress levels. This data will help scientist and managers understand the actual and potential effects of global warming.

PTARMIGAN INTERNSHIP: MOVE, ADAPT, OR DIE IN GLACIER NATIONAL PARK, MT

Vance Fletcher and David BensonSchool of Mathematics and Sciences, Marian University Indianapolis

3200 Cold Spring Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46222

PURPOSE OF STUDY

WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGANWhite-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura; herafter ptarmigan) is the only species in North America to spend their entire lives in the alpine; above tree-line. Because of this they have many adaptations to extreme cold including highly insulative feathers, the ability to build snow roosts, and feathered legs and feet. Ptarmigan are not well adapted to warm temperatures, however. At just 20°C a ptarmigan begins to gain heat and can quickly die when temperatures reach the mid 30s. Alpine temps are frigid in the winter, but can be hot during the summer. During these times of high temperatures ptarmigan tend to stay close to snow and water to keep cool. The edge of snow fields located on moist vegetation and new buds are prime habitat for this small grouse that spends much of its time on the ground. These cooler microclimates are diminishing as the glaciers and perennial snow fields disappear due to changing climate. It is predicted that ptarmigan will be completely gone within the lower 48 states by 2100 (Lawler 2009). By measuring location, stress levels, and microclimate we can assess the potential and actual effects of global warming on this permanent alpine resident.

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

FIELD METHODS

CONCLUSIONSWe have found that ptarmigan have been moving, adapting, and declining. The ptarmigan at Logan Pass have been moving upslope (Fig. 5.) in search of better habitat and colder microclimates. They have also adapted to the warmer climate utilizing snow and shade in order to remain cooler than areas around. Finally they are declining at Logan Pass where the number has dropped from 32 ptarmigan in 1959 during the breeding season to just 7 in 2014 (Table 1). With continued research on microclimate we are hoping to find a correlation between stress levels and microclimates at flock locations.

LITERATURE CITEDJoshua Lawler USEPA Corvallis 2009; 1932 George Grant- Courtesy of Glacier National Park Archives 1988 Jerry DeSanto Courtesy of K. Ross Toole Archive; Choate. 1963. J. Wildlife Management 27:684-699; Gregory T. Wann, Long-Term Demography of a White-tailed Ptarmigan Population in Colorado pp. 65-66

RESULTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSSpecial thanks to Dr. Benson and his family for all of their generosity. Thanks also to Glacier National Park and Marian University for funding and logistical support.Fig. 3. Boulder Glacier in Glacier National Park, MT in 1932 (left) and 1988 (right)

Year Breeding Season (until July 15) Post-breeding Season (July 16-Sep.1)

Total sighted

Female Male Total Female Male Total Total1959 12 20 32 Ave. 701960 14 21 35 55 701961 17 25 42 For the 801962 15 26 41 4 years 761995 12 16 28 9 18 27 38 (3 im)

(15f 23m)

1996 13 16 29 12 18 30 34 (4 im)(14f 20m)

1997 11 12 23 10 15 25 29 (3 im)(12f 16m)

1998 7 12 19 10 12 22 29 (7 im)(14f 15m)

2011 2 4+ 6+ 5 9 14 11 (1 im)(5f 6m)

2012 4 6 10 5 10 15 17 (5 im)(7f 10m)

2013

3 5 8 8 9 17 21 (3 im)(10f 11m)

2014

3 4 7 6 4 10 14 (1 im)(8f 6m)

Fig. 1. White-tailed Ptarmigan in late summer plumage

Looking at mortality rate and breeding season numbers it is evident that the ptarmigan at Logan Pass are declining. This could be due to a number of reasons, but changing habitat thanks for changing climate is likely a main cause. This change is forcing the ptarmigan to travel farther, reducing their habitat, and may be causing more stress. Higher annual temperatures in winter have even shown to decrease survival by decreasing ability to build snow roosts (Wann 2012).

Located in northwest Montan,a Glacier National Park covers 1,500 square miles. Part of the Rocky Mountain chain GNP’s steep valleys have been carved away by massive ice-age glaciers. Recently the remaining glaciers melting off. The number of glaciers has declined from 150 to 27 since the late 1800’s and all are predicted to be gone by 2030 (Hall and Fagre 2003). The average temperature has increased three times the global average, at 1.6°C in just the past 150 years (Hall and Fagre 2003). As can be seen in Fig. 3, many of the iconic glaciers that give the park its name have vanished.

Mortality Choate 1963 Benson 1999 Current Data 1959

-1960

1960-1961

1961-1962

1995-1996

1996-1997

1997-1998

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

Females 27.8 32.4 44.7 53.4 31.3 38.5 40.0 42.9 90.0Males 18.8 15.2 31.5 13.0 25.0 29.4 33.4 30.0 63.6Total 28.9 27.8 35.5 36.4 35.3 76.2

Fig. 2. Location of Glacier National Park (GNP)

• In order to locate individuals, I used recorded male territorial calls to elicit a response in the spring/summer. In the late summer/fall a distressed chick call will be used to elicit calls from females. Once located the birds were captured with a noose pole.

Fig. 3. Measuring tarsus (left). Banding both legs (right)

Fig. 4. Checking secondaries for speckles (Left). Releasing captured bird (right)

Breeding Season Numbers

Fig. 5. Reading the Kestrel weather station (left) Kestrel 6400 “black globe” (right)

Table 1: White-tailed Ptarmigan numbers on Logan Pass. 1959-62 from Choate (1963) and 1995-1998 from Benson (1999).

Mortality Rate

Fig. 5. Flocking locations from 1961-2010

• The majority of research time was spent attempting to locate the territorial males with their females in the spring when little habitat was present. Later in the summer/fall most habitat becomes dry and the ptarmigan begin to flock. At this time I searched for the flocks near snow melt or what was left of the snow fields. The use of a distressed chick call also allowed me to locate females with chicks. The chicks were accounted for and some captured in order to collect feathers for data. Late into the season a fire cause Logan Pass to be inaccessible. At that point, more time was spent at other sites.

• I also collected droppings. The fecal samples will be used to assay fecal steroid metabolites of corticosterone allowing us to measure stress levels.

• After processing and release, GPS coordinates from all confirmed sightings were collected.

• Once captured blood was drawn from the wing vein in less than three minutes in order to collect a baseline of corticosterone, then the bird was processed. This included;

• Banding with one black and white plastic band for easy identification

• Banding of one metal band of same number for long term identification

• Recording weight• Measuring tarsus length• Collecting feathers for DNA• Check secondary feather for speckles to determine adult or

juvenile• Then slowly releasing

• The microclimate of the location of the ptarmigan was recorded using a Kestrel 6400 “black globe” mini weather station. The weather station was placed at ptarmigan height on a mini tripod exactly where the ptarmigan was initially found. After calibrating I recorded the ambient temperature, black globe temperature, wet bulb temperature, wind speed, humidity, and other variables.