A new study in the Swiss Alps has found that marmots are living higher up the mountains than they did four decades ago. However, they've hit a ceiling that could leave them with nowhere else to go.

What's happening?

As reported by the Swiss research institute WSL, biologist Anne Kempel and her team from the institute's SLF division revisited 25 marmot sites in the Dischma Valley near Davos, using the same observation methods as researchers in 1982. They discovered that most marmot families now live about 282 feet higher than they did 42 years ago, settling around 8,200 feet above sea level. Warmer temperatures are partly behind this shift, but the animals haven't moved beyond their historical upper limit of 8,858 feet.

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Researchers believe that's because ideal living conditions exist where they are now. The marmots need deep soil for burrowing, thick snow cover to insulate them during hibernation, and plants rich in linoleic acid to help regulate their body temperature in winter. Going outside of their current area could mean these necessities are harder to come by.

Why is this marmot behavior concerning?

While the Dischma Valley remains relatively cool — with only about six days a year above 77 degrees Fahrenheit, which is too few to cause heat stress — other parts of the Alps are already becoming challenging for marmots. At lower elevations, higher temperatures force them underground for much of the day, meaning they spend less time eating and storing fat, which they need to survive the winter.

The bigger concern is that the treeline is steadily creeping upward. 

"Marmots prefer open habitats," Kempel explained in the report. "They aren't suited to living in forests, and since they aren't moving further up into the mountains, their habitat is shrinking." 

If trees replace their grassland home and they can't move higher, the space available to them will keep shrinking. This change would disrupt the ecosystem where marmots play a key role in soil health and as prey for predators. Ultimately, disrupted ecosystems affect our food security, water quality, and public health.

What can we do about changing habitats?

Rising temperatures, loss of biodiversity, and pollution all have ripple effects through our planet's webs of ecosystems. So one seemingly unrelated issue could have much greater ramifications across the board. 

In this case, conservation strategies include monitoring habitat and behavioral changes, as these researchers are doing. Another is protecting the plant species that are vital to marmots' diet.

Overall, the biggest change must come from curbing human-generated heat-trapping pollution contributing to rising global temperatures. Similar to other species under pressure from shifting habitats — such as pikas in North America and orangutans in Indonesia — marmots may benefit from climate resilience projects, wildlife corridors, and land-use policies that prioritize protecting the health of the ecosystem.

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