1. 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 Benson
School of Mathematics and Sciences, Marian University Indianapolis
3200 Cold Spring Rd, Indianapolis, IN 46222
PURPOSE OF STUDY
WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN
White-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
CONCLUSIONS
We 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 CITED
Joshua 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
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special 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 Total
1959 12 20 32 Ave. 70
1960 14 21 35 55 70
1961 17 25 42 For the 80
1962 15 26 41 4 years 76
1995 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 90.0
Males 18.8 15.2 31.5 13.0 25.0 29.4 33.4 30.0 63.6
Total 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.