![]() ![]() Forest Service researcher with the Rocky Mountain Research Station, began her work on this project as a postdoctoral fellow at IAB in 2018. Lead author Helen Chmura, currently a U.S. The fieldwork took place out of IAB’s Toolik Field Station, located in the northern foothills of the Brooks Range 370 miles north of Fairbanks. Williams, who was previously a postdoctoral researcher and assistant professor at IAB, is one of several former UAF faculty, undergraduate and graduate students involved in the study, and is one of the two co-authors on the paper. “I think the thing that makes our study unique is that we are looking at a long-enough data set to show the impacts of climate change on a mammal in the Arctic,” Williams said in a news release for CSU. Senior author Cory Williams, an assistant professor with Colorado State University, began studying arctic ground squirrels while at IAB more than 15 years ago. And if females’ hibernation periods continue to shrink, it could mean a future mismatch during mating cycles between them and their would-be male suitors. ![]() On other hand, earlier emerging females will face increased threats from predators like foxes, wolves, bears and golden eagles. Mating also could be more successful at present because the females’ recent earlier awakening might better match that of males, which have tended to wake up before females but to remain underground longer. ![]() Squirrels that emerge earlier don’t need to use as much stored fat during hibernation and can begin eating sooner, potentially resulting in healthier females. ![]()
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