Acute cold stress: a potential threat to Royle's pika (Ochotona roylii) survival at Central Himalayas of Nepal

Abstract

Climate change is one of the contemporary threats to biodiversity worldwide both individuals and population in animal communities (Isaac, 2009). Climate change and its effect on the species might be one of the more difficult challenges faced by any natural resource manager. It is expected that the global temperature could rise by as much as 6.4°C by the end of the twenty-first century (IPCC, 2007). Many taxa response to inter-annual fluctuations in precipitation, temperature, and extreme climatic events over ecological and evolutionary timescales (Post & Forchhammer, 2002). The abundance, distribution, and demography of Acute cold stress: a potential threat to Royle's pika (Ochotona roylii) survival at Central Himalayas of Nepal