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

众所周知，连通性或在景观中的移动对动物种群的持久性至关重要。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步，但还没有一个统一这些方法的框架。该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，这是一种只在华盛顿奥林匹克半岛高海拔草地上发现的物种。对非侵入性获得的样本（从放在土拨鼠洞穴里的棍子上留下的毛发）进行DNA分析，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景观中可能的运动路径。这个物种只有2000 - 4000只，它们最近的明显减少引起了奥林匹克国家公园的相当大的关注。将这个项目的发现与之前对奥林匹克土拨鼠的研究结果进行比较，将有助于确定这个物种是否已经减少。利用野外数据开发的计算机模型还将显示全球气候变化对旱獭连通性的潜在影响，因为积雪或植被群落类型发生了变化。通过确定连通性和种群减少的机制，该项目将促进奥林匹克旱獭的管理，同时开发一种适用于许多面临破碎化的物种的通用方法。

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.