PikaNet

PikaNet is a citizen science initiative to engage people of all ages to collect data on the American Pika. This high alpine creature is considered an indicator species of climate change due to its high vulnerability to warming global temperatures. MSI teaches volunteers what species and indicators they are looking for, where to find them, how to collect data, and how to submit the data to a statewide online database. Participants “adopt” their own pika monitoring site to collect and submit this important data.

Data that participants collect will become part of a larger effort to monitor pika populations in Colorado and across the Southern Rockies. The Rocky Mountain Wild and the Denver Zoo will offer sister trainings in the Front Range of Northern Colorado.

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PikaNET is has historically been a collaborative effort between several organizations including the Mountain Studies Insititute, the Denver Zoo, Rocky Mountain Wild, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at CSU, and the San Juan Public Lands Center. The monitoring effort is linked to the research being done by Dr. Chris Ray and Dr. Liesl Peterson from the University of Colorado Boulder. Chris and Liesl have both been crucial to to the development of compatible protocols and procedures.

Pika Net 2024

For 2024 PikaNet will be focusing their effort on five sample sites:

  • Velocity Basin

  • Ophir Pass

  • Cunningham Gulch

  • American Basin

  • La Plata Canyon

This is so we can have a solid data group for a comparative study from our 2014 data to 2024. A report will be published with our findings at the beginning of 2025.

Data submission will no longer be submitted through the CitSci website. While we will still be pulling data from CitSci, we have decided to utilized a friendly to use google sheet system to compile data for PikaNet going forward.

To join the MSI PikaNet team, please email Jewell Coleman at jewell@mountainstudies.org expressing your interest.

Joining this team of volunteers DOES require a training (free) to ensure that we are contributing sound data in a consistent way. Email Jewell to find out when the next training will be held.

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