Terrestrial Ecosystems
Terrestrial Ecosystems
The Northern Rockies are blessed with an abundance of plant and animal species that have remained relatively intact since the Lewis and Clark expedition in the early 19th century. Expanding energy development, increasing human population pressures, and the continued demand on global water resources make the management of wildlife more complicated than ever. NOROCK works collaboratively with partners to study key life history and habitat needs of these species.
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Energy development and the airspace
Today, the alternative energy and telecommunications industries are developing the airspace much the way metropolitan growth and mechanized agriculture develop the landscape. NOROCK scientists and partners are using both historical and traditional technologies in new and innovative ways to observe wildlife behaviors in response to these changing habitats.
Seasonal Movement of Wild Hogs in Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area and Great Smoky Mountains National Park
The wild hog (Sus scrofa) is an exotic invasive species that significantly impacts native resources and their populations are expanding significantly throughout the United States. In addition, wild hogs are likely contributing to the spread of disease such as pseudorabies. National Park Service units in the Southeast that have populations of exotic wild hogs include Big South Fork National River...
Adaptive Capacity: the linchpin for understanding and addressing species vulnerability to climate-change impacts
When prioritizing natural resource management activities, managers need to understand how plant and animal species differ in terms of their vulnerability to variation in environmental conditions caused by climate change. Species vulnerability to climate change is controlled by (1) exposure to changing environmental conditions, (2) sensitivity to direct and indirect effects of those changing...
Remote Sensing and Fire Science
NOROCK science has developed capabilities for the remote sensing and evaluation of burns. Working with diverse institutions and individuals in fire science and information technology, we advance mutual interests of fire science partners by undertaking relevant research, and by disseminating findings through coordination and technology transfer.
Extinction dynamics and microrefugia of the American pika as climate changes.
Accurate projections of climate change and associated impacts on wildlife are now essential to conservation planning, but predictive models of range shifts for many species are often coarse, ignore extinction dynamics, and overestimate suitable habitat. Recent studies suggest the American pika (Ochotona princeps) is vulnerable to increasing heat stress in the Great Basin yet appears more resilient...
Grizzly Bear Dispersal
This work has two components. First, we developed a method to use our family tree data to examine dispersal. Next, we would like to apply this method to our updated and more complete family tree to improve our understanding of how grizzly bears disperse.
Predicting changes in Bear Foods
Huckleberries are central to the diets of bears, grouse, and other animals, as well as being a cultural and food resource for humans. Approximately 15% of the diet of bears in the Whitefish range and Glacier National Park is huckleberries, and huckleberries help bears gain weight for hibernation. Changes in climate lead to changes in vegetation phenology, productivity, and quality that may...
Grizzly Bear Family Tree
Building a family tree of grizzly bears can both satisfy our natural curiosity about bear society and answer many ecologically important questions about the ways bears interact with each other and the landscape.
Joe Clark's Research
This is a summary of the research focus for Dr. Joe Clark.
Improving our understanding of forest-road effects on substrate in headwater streams of the Southwest Crown of the Continent
In 2010, Congress established ten decade-long Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program projects to carry out fuel reduction and ecological restoration treatments on public lands across the country. The Southwest Crown of the Continent was selected as one of the locations under this initiative, given the importance of this region to the economic vitality of local communities and the...
Design, Analysis, Monitoring, and Conservation of Ecological Dynamics at Broad Scales
There is increasing recognition that the spatial context in which any ecological process or phenomenon occurs has great bearing on the outcome of that process. Since 1994, we have been working on numerous field investigations and conceptual developments to inform how ecological resources can be managed and conserved across jurisdictional boundaries and broad spatial extents. Because such spatially...
Grazing, Ungulate, and Disturbance Ecology
We work with a diverse collection of other researchers and resource managers, at local to national and international levels, to address ways in which herbivory and grazing systems interact with the broader ecosystems in which they occur. We investigate whether long-term weather patterns may interact synergistically to affect how soils, vegetation, and other animals respond to grazing or browsing...