Marmot population thriving due to rise in temperature--study

“We believe that gradual change in climate crosses a threshold, and causes abrupt changes in population,” said the lead study author biologist, Arpat Ozgul, from the Imperial College of London.

Ozgul explained, "Marmots are awake for only four to five months of the year. These months are a busy time for them - they have to eat and gain weight, get pregnant, produce offspring and get ready to hibernate again. Since the summers have become longer, marmots have had more time to do all these things and grow before the upcoming winter, so they are more likely to succeed and survive."

The research study published in ‘Nature’ journal was conducted by several universities between 1976 and 2008.

Study details
To find out how marmots are getting heavier each year, Ozgul along with his colleagues’ researched data collected on the population of marmots in the Upper East River Valley region in Colorado over the period of 33 years.

“We believe that gradual change in climate crosses a threshold, and causes abrupt changes in population,” said the lead study author biologist Arpat Ozgul, from the Imperial College of London.

In the study researchers found out that marmot species has not just increased in population but their size has increased considerably too due to warmer temperatures in recent past.

The researchers noted that during the first half of the study, an average marmot weighted 3.1 kilograms. However, during the second half, average weight increased to 3.4 kilograms.

“For that small size, it's quite a big increase," noted Ozgul in his study results.

Though researchers are not sure about the exact causes of the weight gain in marmots, they believe that weight gain made them stronger, in turn they survived longer, bred more and passed on the ability to be larger to their next generation.

Sudden spurt in marmot population short termed?
However, scientists believe that this sudden unexpected spurt in marmot population is not here to stay because quantity of food will be decrease with the rise in temperature.

"Will populations thrive in the changing climate? We suspect that this population increase is a short-term response to the lengthening summers," explained Ozgul.

Biologist Murray Humphries from McGill University too agreed with Ozgul’s theory that this increase in marmot population could be temporary.

“I’d be surprised if the population keeps growing, even if the summers keep getting longer. What goes up must come down,” said Humphries.