Table 1 Geographic, climatic, vegetation and pika life history characteristics of three sites in the eastern Tibetan Plateau (China)

Geography^a

Latitude (N)

34°24′

35°01′

35°28′

Longitude (E)

100°21′

101°27′

101°08′

Altitude (m)

3984

3694

3307

Climate^b

Annual precipitation (mm)

528

477.48

407.8

Annual avg. temperature (°C)

−0.19

0.41

2.3

Min. monthly avg. temperature (°C)

−12.6

−12.3

−11.5

Max. monthly avg. temperature (°C)

9.7

6.74

13.2

Annual sunshine duration (hs)

2260

2620.47

2701

Vegetation^a

Cover^c (%) (mean ± SE)

75.2 ± 2.87

78.8 ± 3.05

85.8 ± 3.66

Height^c (cm) (mean ± SE)

3.06 ± 0.23

3.2 ± 0.12

4.0 ± 0.19

Growing season (days)

90–110

100–110

120–130

Life history

Breeding season

Apr.–Jun.^[28]

Apr.–Jun.^a

Apr.–Jul.^{[22, 23, 30]}

Litters per year

1–2

1–2

2–3

Litter size (Mean ± SE)

3.2 ± 0.1^[22]

4.4 ± 0.3^a

4.5 ± 0.1^[19]

Annual survival rate (%)

33.5–50.3^[22]

–

23.4–28.6^[30]