Climate Change Stresses Out These Chipmunks. Why Are Their Cousins So Chill?

Short Wave

NPR

Daily News, Nature, Life Sciences, Astronomy, Science, News

4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 23 December 2022

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Kwasi Wresnford describes the subjects of his research as "elfin": skittish little squirrel-cousins with angular faces, pointy ears and narrow, furry tails. He studies two species in particular: the Alpine chipmunk and the Lodgepole chipmunk. As the climate warms, these two chipmunks have developed different ways of coping. The Alpine chipmunk has climbed higher, in search of cooler habitat, while the Lodgepole chipmunk continues to thrive in its historic habitat. On this episode, Kwasi explains to Emily Kwong how these squirrelly critters typify two important evolutionary strategies, and why they could shed light on what's in store for other creatures all over the globe.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're listening to shortwave.
0:02.6	From NPR.
0:04.6	Kwasi runs for studies, chipmunks, and they keep him on his toes.
0:11.3	I would describe them as Elfin, like, Elf looking.
0:14.2	They have like, really angular faces.
0:16.9	And the pointy ears, they're very zippy.
0:19.0	They're small and they're fast.
0:20.4	So it's like the two things you don't want for something you have to spend a lot of time
0:24.4	looking for and observing.
0:26.8	And they're full of personality.
0:29.5	And Kwasi's seen first hand over summers of field research, observing their every move.
0:34.9	I do my work up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.
0:38.0	You'll see a chipmunk.
0:39.0	It'll kind of be posted up in a rock and it'll just be really still.
0:41.6	And then it'll just take off like a rocket.
0:44.9	To be more specific, Kwasi studies two chipmunks in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Lodgepole
0:50.5	chipmunk and the Alpine chipmunk.
0:52.7	They eat similar food, act in similar ways.
0:55.6	Between these two species, he's observed one clear difference.
0:59.6	So we have these two chipmunks, very similar habitats, very closely related, similar
1:04.6	ecologies, but very different responses to climate change.
1:08.6	What makes an animal more likely to be resilient to climate change versus sensitive to climate
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.