Pint-Size Pikas Survive Forest Fire

No, they are not the inspiration for everyone's favorite Pokémon. Though, pint-size pikas are nearly as resilient, a new study demonstrates, as this population was able to survive a raging forest fire in Oregon that devastated their natural habitat.

This rabbit relative lives in Oregon's Columbia River Gorge where it happily munches on moss instead of grass and flowers. But in 2011, the Dollar Lake fire burned more than 6,000 acres (about 2,400 hectares) of the Mount Hood National Forest where these pikas resided.

"I burst into tears," Johanna Varner, a doctoral student in biology at the University of Utah who had been studying these cute critters, told Live Science. "It was just so heartbreaking. I had watched them construct their little food caches, and the [caches] were just a pile of ashes."

So with everything else turned to ash, how is it that these pikas managed to survive? Small mammals like pikas can't outrun a forest fire like deer, but they can hide inside the rock crevices in which they live, and where temperatures don't reach scorching hot levels, according Varner's research.

Pikas live in crevices on relatively bare, rocky slopes called talus at low elevations, and can be found on mountains in both Nevada and Oregon. The Dollar Lake fire hit the slope in 2011 and burned all of the trees and shrubs there, meaning a high-temperature fire and a severe burn, Varner said.

Varner assumed the poor pikas had perished as well, but when she noticed temperature sensors used as part of her research were relatively unscathed by the heat, she had hope.

"These data suggest the pika could have survived the fire," Varner explained. "If I ever get stuck in a wildfire, I can tell you where I'm going to hide."

According to satellite data and the US Forest Service, surface temperature of the mountain rocks rose slightly during the fire, but inside the crevices, where pikas live, the heat never exceeded pre-fire temperatures.

"The take-home message is that pikas may be more flexible in their habitat than we thought," Varner told Live Science. "They make the most of whatever is there.

However, with pikas already stressed by climate change, Varner worries whether they can continue to endure more forest fires.

These mammals are sensitive to climate change, and are already reportedly moving to higher-elevation homes to escape the heat. According to the National Park Service, pikas typically live at elevations of 11,000 feet or more. Usually between 6-8 inches and weighing around 4-6 ounces, they are better adapted to cold climate, relying on their small, rotund body to trap heat. It is expected that these tiny animals will become more abundant in the West in the next 50 years.