Mountain ecosystems of the western U.S. provide irreplaceable goods and services such as water, wood, biodiversity, and recreational opportunities, but their responses to global changes are poorly understood. The overarching objective of the Western Mountain Initiative (WMI) is to understand and predict the responses, emphasizing sensitivities, thresholds, resistance, and resilience, of Western mountain ecosystems to global change.
The effects of global change are now apparent in nearly all western mountain landscapes, including the Central Rockies of Colorado. As part of the long-term monitoring program in Loch Vale Watershed, Rocky Mountain National Park, we have been tracking and interpreting trends in meteorology, precipitation chemistry, hydrology, limnology, water quality, and forest health, since 1983. Monitoring is the foundation upon which our research questions are based, and allows us to address mechanisms by which biogeochemical and biological processes are influenced by nitrogen deposition, climate change, and their interactions.
Our program goals are:
Research Objectives
- To observe and differentiate natural processes from unnatural, human-caused drivers of change.
- To understand and quantify the effects of atmospheric deposition and climate change on high-elevation ecosystems.
Program Objectives
- To share knowledge gained from research activities with the public, scientific community, and natural-resource managers.
- To offer a program of graduate education and research that develops future scientists and knowledgeable resource managers.
- To maintain the Loch Vale long-term ecological research project as a successful example of ecosystem-study design, interdisciplinary collaboration, long-term monitoring, and sustainable natural-resource management.
Watershed research, including in Loch Vale watershed, has been a continuous focus since the early 80's. Through the monitoring of biological, biogeochemical, and hydrological change and evaluation of the landscape, researchers assist in projecting climate change impacts and trends. A shared vision and approach to managing our resources will help build resilience to climate change.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
The Western Mountain Initiative (WMI)
Western Mountain Initiative: Southern Rocky Mountains
- Overview
Mountain ecosystems of the western U.S. provide irreplaceable goods and services such as water, wood, biodiversity, and recreational opportunities, but their responses to global changes are poorly understood. The overarching objective of the Western Mountain Initiative (WMI) is to understand and predict the responses, emphasizing sensitivities, thresholds, resistance, and resilience, of Western mountain ecosystems to global change.
A student filters water for the Western Mountain Initiative in Rocky Mountain National Park, CO. The effects of global change are now apparent in nearly all western mountain landscapes, including the Central Rockies of Colorado. As part of the long-term monitoring program in Loch Vale Watershed, Rocky Mountain National Park, we have been tracking and interpreting trends in meteorology, precipitation chemistry, hydrology, limnology, water quality, and forest health, since 1983. Monitoring is the foundation upon which our research questions are based, and allows us to address mechanisms by which biogeochemical and biological processes are influenced by nitrogen deposition, climate change, and their interactions.
Our program goals are:
Research Objectives
- To observe and differentiate natural processes from unnatural, human-caused drivers of change.
- To understand and quantify the effects of atmospheric deposition and climate change on high-elevation ecosystems.
Stephanie Kampf and Katie Williams measuring a hillslope transect for snow depth and soil moisture Loch Vale, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO. May 2010. Photo by Jill Baron, USGS. Public domain. Program Objectives
- To share knowledge gained from research activities with the public, scientific community, and natural-resource managers.
- To offer a program of graduate education and research that develops future scientists and knowledgeable resource managers.
- To maintain the Loch Vale long-term ecological research project as a successful example of ecosystem-study design, interdisciplinary collaboration, long-term monitoring, and sustainable natural-resource management.
Watershed research, including in Loch Vale watershed, has been a continuous focus since the early 80's. Through the monitoring of biological, biogeochemical, and hydrological change and evaluation of the landscape, researchers assist in projecting climate change impacts and trends. A shared vision and approach to managing our resources will help build resilience to climate change.
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
The Western Mountain Initiative (WMI)
Western Mountain Initiative (WMI) is a long-term collaboration between FORT, WERC, NOROCK, USFS, NPS, LANL, and universities worldwide to address changes in montane forests and watersheds due to climate change. Current emphases include altered forest disturbance regimes (fire, die-off, insect outbreaks) and hydrology; interactions between plants, water, snow, nutrient cycles, and climate; and...Western Mountain Initiative: Southern Rocky Mountains
Mountain ecosystems of the western U.S. provide irreplaceable goods and services such as water, wood, biodiversity, and recreational opportunities, but their potential responses to projected climatic patterns are poorly understood. The overarching objective of the Western Mountain Initiative (WMI) is to understand and predict the responses—emphasizing sensitivities, thresholds, resistance, and... - Publications