Genetics, Demography, and Movement of Olympic Marmots Wildlife Ecology Olympic National Park Suzanne Cox Griffin, L. Scott Mills, Ph.D., Mark Taper, Ph.D.; University of Montana The Olympic marmot (Marmota olympus) is a large ground-squirrel endemic to the Olympic Mountains in the Pacific Northwest. While the habitat of the Olympic marmot is protected within the park, there have been local declines and extirpations in recent years. The alpine meadows that are the marmot’s primary resource may already be showing deleterious signs of climate change such as tree establishment. Also, phenological changes have been observed in other marmot species, apparently in response to warming spring temperatures. We will merge the use of non-invasive genetic sampling, GIS, computer simulations, and statistical analysis to develop and demonstrate a framework for investigating the influence of landscape on the dispersal of individuals in a naturally fragmented landscape. Marmots will serve as an excellent model system for investigating the effects of landscape features on population connectivity, and this research will aid park managers who want to maximize the probability of survival for this popular and highly visible species.

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