Document: DAN-3-9-6

Taking the pulse of mountains: research and monitoring networks

FAGRE, D.B.*

USGS - Glacier Field Station, Glacier National Park, West Glacier, MT 59936 USA ¹

Abstract:
Mountains contribute 50% of the freshwater that humans consume and are home to 1/10 of the world's population, but montane ecosystems have received less research and monitoring efforts than other ecosystems. Because mountains' steep environmental gradients make changes easier to detect than many lowland areas, there has been increased interest in mountains as indicators of global-scale change. This has led to a declaration of the International Year of the Mountain in 2002 and the creation of research networks that focus on mountains. Coordinating individual scientific efforts within and between montane ecosystems allows networks to address high priority issues that cannot be answered at specific sites. The Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA), for instance, is a global-scale effort to monitor high-elevation vegetation responses to climate change. Based in Austria, collaborators monitor changes at 65 sites in 31 countries, providing the first uniform information on global latitudinal and elevational trends. The International Geosphere-Biosphere Program's Mountain Work Plan identified standards for mountain ecosystem studies, specifying nested watershed studies coupled to models as one approach for comparing montane systems worldwide. In the U.S., mountainous areas have been included in research and monitoring programs such as the NSF-sponsored Long Term Ecological Research network or the Inventory and Monitoring Program of the National Park Service, but mountains have not been a specific focus until recently. A Western Mountain Initiative within the U.S. Geological Survey tied together long-term ecosystem studies from the Sierra Nevada Range, the Central Rocky Mountains (Colorado), the Northern Rocky Mountains (Montana), and the Olympic Mountains. This network identified similar responses to decadal-scale climate change in different montane ecosystems, such as tree invasion of alpine meadows, and will provide opportunities for multi-scale comparisons soon.

Keywords: climate change, mountains, multi-scale research

This abstract is being presented at: 11:15 AM in session:
Symposium # 2: Stressors in Western Mountain Ecosystems: Detecting Change and Its Consequences.