Pilot Testing a Pika Monitoring Protocol in Glacier National Park

The purpose of this project was to pilot test a peer-reviewed, long-term pika monitoring protocol for the American pika (Ochotona princeps) in Glacier National Park. The pika is a climate-sensitive species and this effort provided new information on the distribution, survey methodologies, and habitat associations of the species in the park. In particular, this project established long-term monitoring sites to estimate the proportion of sample sites occupied by pikas and assessed detectability of pika using both direct and indirect evidence of pika presence (via visuals, aurals, scat, and haypiles) for observers with various levels of experience and training. The authors with the Crown of the Continent Research Learning Center Citizen Science Program to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of citizen scientists in protocol implementation.