In terms of their diets, collared Pikas are almost pure herbivores.
Collared Pikas grow rapidly from birth,
reaching their mature adult sizes within about 50 days.
Collared Pikas also sometimes live in areas close
to sea level in Alaska and British Columbia.
The study also
showed evidence of dwindling numbers of Royle's Pikas in recent years- a phenomenon called population bottleneck.
Collared Pikas are rather small in size,
reaching around only 5.5 ounces in adulthood, and have a concealed tail and short round ears.
Johanna Varner is a biologist with Colorado Mesa University who
has spent more than five years studying Pikas in the Columbia River Gorge.
But over the coming years, she studied how Pikas respond to wildfires, and, in the process, witnessed the regrowth of a burned forest.
The limited dispersal ability and the natal philopatry(where offspring breed at or
close to their place of birth) of Pikas often lead to high inbreeding.
Recent studies have indicated that increased summer temperatures can lead to thermal stress, and the lack of winter snow, which acts as a thermal insulator,
can expose Pikas to extreme cold which could kill them.