Contexts for change in alpine tundra
Because alpine tundra is responding to climate change, a need exists to understand the meaning of observed changes. To provide context for such interpretation, the relevance of niche and neutral theories of biogeography and the continuum and classification approaches to biogeographic description are assessed. Two extensive studies of alpine tundra, from the Indian Peaks area, Colorado and Glacier National Park, Montana, are combined. The data are ordinated to describe relations. The pattern that emerges is one of a continuum of vegetation, but with the distinctions one might expect from distant sites. The relationships of the similarity of vegetation on all possible pairs of sites to the environmental differences and geographic distances are analyzed using Mantel correlations. Because distance and environmental differences in climate between the two sites are correlated, partial correlations are weak but still significant. More advanced analyses are suggested for this environment prior to interpretation of monitoring efforts such as GLORIA.
Citation Information
Publication Year | 2011 |
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Title | Contexts for change in alpine tundra |
DOI | 10.2747/0272-3646.32.2.97 |
Authors | George P. Malanson, Jonathan P. Rose, P. Jason Schroeder, Daniel B. Fagre |
Publication Type | Article |
Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
Series Title | Physical Geography |
Index ID | 70044133 |
Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
USGS Organization | Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center; Western Ecological Research Center |