Swiss study shows marmots move to higher altitude due to climate change

Marmots move a little higher due to climate change Keystone-SDA

Marmots now live on average 86 metres higher than they did 40 years ago. However, according to a new study, their absolute upper limit has not shifted – they do not go above 2,700 metres above sea level. This was already the case in 1982.

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This was shown by a study of marmots in the Dischma Valley near Davos in canton Graubünden by researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF. SLF biologist Anne Kempel suspected that the animals were migrating to higher altitudes due to warmer temperatures as a result of climate change, as she explained in a press release issued by the SLF on Tuesday. However, this is only partially true, as the results of the study published in the journal Ecology and Evolution show. The researchers analysed the marmots using the same methods as a study conducted in 1982.

“Other factors probably play a more important role than the warmer temperatures,” explained Kempel. For example, the animals would not find any ground too high up in which they could dig their burrows. In addition, during hibernation they need the thickest possible snow cover to insulate the ground from the cold. These conditions are best at around 2,500 metres, where the animals live today. In addition, plants containing linoleic acid are an important part of the animals’ diet. This unsaturated fatty acid regulates body temperature in winter.

Could become a problem in the long term

In lower parts of the Alps, this could become a problem for the animals. This is because they suffer from heat stress above 25 degrees Celsius, as the SLF explained. They then hide in their dens for long periods during the day and therefore eat less fat for the winter – with fatal consequences in the cold season.

In the long term, this could also become a problem at high altitudes. Because it is getting warmer there too. So far, however, this has not been the case in the Dischma Valley. “But we still only have an average of six days per year with more than 25 degrees in the Dischma Valley, which is too few for negative effects,” said Kempel. Nevertheless, the animals’ habitat is shrinking. This is because the tree line is rising, but marmots need open areas and cannot move further up.

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Translated from German by DeepL/jdp

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