Meeting Abstract
Thirteen-lined ground squirrels (TLGS) range from Texas to Canada, but recently there are fewer colonies in the most southern portion of their range, possibly due to food shortages, habitat fragmentation, or climate change, including flooding of burrows due to winter precipitation while animals are in torpor. TLGS are antisocial burrowing rodents- lactating mothers share their burrow with juveniles until weaning, but during that time are territorial of their burrows and foraging areas. Little is known about the potential effects of climatic differences on burrowing behavior or life history characteristics. To fill this gap we live-trapped and examined life history characteristics (reproduction, behavior, hibernation pattern, and choice of burrow location) of TLGS across a latitudinal range from TX to MN. By measuring the relative abundance of preferred food in areas with and without burrows, I hypothesized that areas with burrows would have a higher food density within a 2m radius than areas without burrows. Alternatively, I hypothesized that more burrows would be located close to headstones than in the open, as headstones could be protective against predation. Neither hypothesis was supported by our data and suggests that food and protection alone cannot predict burrow location. Therefore, some other characteristic such as soil texture could explain burrow choice, supporting the potential explanation that contraction in species range is due to winter flooding events. Many southern populations were in areas with clay soil, which is susceptible to water retention and flash flooding events. This has implications for the survival of populations in other areas of the species range with similar soil types as the climate continues to change and these flooding events become more common.
