COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Connectivity in a Heterogeneous Landscape: The Genetics and Population Dynamics of Olympic Marmots

众所周知，连通性或跨景观的运动对动物种群的持续性至关重要。 尽管在使用无线电遥测、非侵入性DNA采样和计算机分析测量连通性方面取得了惊人的进展，但还没有一个框架来统一这些方法。 本项目将开发这样一个总体框架，并将其应用于奥林匹克土拨鼠，这是一种仅在华盛顿奥林匹克半岛高海拔草地中发现的物种。 对非侵入性获得的样本进行DNA分析（从放置在土拨鼠洞穴中的棍子上留下的毛发），再加上遥测和观察，将为一个新的计算机模型提供输入，该模型将描绘土拨鼠在整个景观中可能的运动路径。该物种目前只有2000 - 4000只，最近数量的明显减少引起了奥林匹克国家公园的极大关注。 将该项目的研究结果与以前对奥运旱獭的研究结果进行比较，将有助于确定该物种是否已经下降。 随着积雪或植被群落类型的转移，利用实地数据开发的计算机模型还将表明全球气候变化对土拨鼠连通性的潜在影响。 通过确定连通性和种群下降的机制，该项目将促进对奥林匹克旱獭的管理，同时制定适用于许多面临破碎化的物种的一般方法。

It is known that connectivity, or movement across a landscape, can be critical to the persistence of animal populations. Although there have been astonishing advances in the measurement of connectivity using radiotelemetry, non-invasive DNA sampling, and computer analysis, there is not yet a framework to unify these approaches. This project will develop such a general framework, applying it to the Olympic marmot, a species found only in the high-elevation meadows of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington. DNA analysis of samples obtained non-invasively (from hairs left on sticks placed in marmot burrows), coupled with telemetry, and observation, will provide input to a novel computer model that will portray likely marmot movement paths across the landscape. There are only 2,000-4,000 individuals of this species, and their apparent recent declines are of considerable concern to Olympic National Park. Comparison of findings of this project to previous work on Olympic marmots will permit determination of whether this species has declined. The computer model developed with field data will also indicate potential effects of global climate change on marmot connectivity, as snowpack or vegetation community types are shifted. By identifying mechanisms of connectivity and population decline, the project will facilitate management of Olympic marmots while at the same time developing a general approach applicable to many species facing fragmentation.