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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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...
Species and Ecosystem Responses to Global Change
We work with a diverse collection of researchers, resource managers, and conservation practitioners to address the “how” and “why” questions that underlie species-and ecosystem-level responses to long-term weather patterns. Although it is more challenging, this level of more-mechanistic understanding is critical for informing climate-adaptation actions and strategies. We use a diversity of study...
Bighorn Sheep in and near Glacier National Park
USGS collected GPS data as well as genetic and other samples on over 100 bighorn sheep east of the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park, Waterton National Park, and the Blackfeet Reservation. Bighorn sheep across the west are vulnerable to disease such as pneumonia. We are therefore working to improve our understanding of bighorn sheep movements, approaches for monitoring bighorns, and...
Ecology of Elk on Department of Interior Lands in Southwest Wyoming
Between 2005 and 2010, we radio- collared 61 female elk (Cervus elaphus) on Fossil Butte National Monument and 12 female elk near Cokeville, Wyoming, slightly northwest of the Monument, all from the West Green River herd. We are using the 209,250 locations from these elk to identify seasonal distribution patterns, evaluate habitat use, and assess factors influencing the timing of migration...
Restoring Montana Pothole Wetlands - Demonstration Sites and Adaptive Management
Geologic processes from the last ice age have generated extensive areas of pothole wetlands in several Montana landscapes. The Laurentide ice sheet, originating in the Northwest Territories, provided the dominant force in eastern Montana. Similar landscapes developed in the broad valleys of western Montana through the actions of the Cordilleran ice sheet, originating in the mountains of British...