Document: DAV-3-9-1

Taking the pulse of mountains: stress and ecosystem change in the 20th century

PETERSON, D.L.*

USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Cascadia Field Station, Seattle, WA USA ¹

Abstract:
Mountain ecosystems of the western United States are experiencing increased levels of stress, despite the fact that mountainous regions might appear to be less disturbed by human activities than lower-elevation systems. Stressors that significantly impact mountain ecosystems include climatic variability, altered disturbance regimes, exotic species, air pollution, and human land use. Most ecological analyses have typically been conducted at small spatial scales, making it challenging to detect directional changes at broad spatial scales. However, a decade of focused research, monitoring, synthesis, and modeling in the Cascade Mountains, Rocky Mountains, and Sierra Nevada has quantified a variety of stress effects on natural resources at regional and sub-continental scales. Detecting environmental change and implementing appropriate managerial and regulatory responses will be one of the greatest challenges in Western mountains in the 21st century.

Keywords: human disturbance, mountain ecosystems, stressors

This abstract is being presented at: 8:00 AM in session:
Symposium # 2: Stressors in Western Mountain Ecosystems: Detecting Change and Its Consequences.