Mountain Views Th e Newsletter of the Consortium for Integrated Climate Research in Western Mountains CIRMOUNT Informing the Mountain Research Community Vol. 8, No. 2 November 2014 White Mountain Peak as seen from Sherwin Grade north of Bishop, CA. Photo: Kelly Redmond Editor: Connie Millar, USDA Forest Service, Pacifi c Southwest Research Station, Albany, California Layout and Graphic Design: Diane Delany, USDA Forest Service, Pacifi c Southwest Research Station, Albany, California Front Cover: Rock formations, Snow Valley State Park, near St George, Utah. Photo: Kelly Redmond Back Cover: Clouds on Piegan Pass, Glacier National Park, Montana. Photo: Martha Apple Read about the contributing artists on page 71. Mountain Views The Newslett er of the Consortium for Integrated Climate Research in Western Mountains CIRMOUNT Volume 8, No 2, November 2014 www.fs.fed.us/psw/cirmount/ Table of Contents Th e Mountain Views Newsletter Connie Millar 1 Articles Parque Nacional Nevado de Tres Cruces, Chile: A Signifi cant Philip Rundel and Catherine Kleier 2 Coldspot of Biodiversity in a High Andean Ecosystem Th e Mountain Invasion Research Network (MIREN), reproduced Christoph Kueff er, Curtis Daehler, Hansjörg Dietz, Keith 7 from GAIA Zeitschrift McDougall, Catherine Parks, Anibal Pauchard, Lisa Rew, and the MIREN Consortium MtnClim 2014: A Report on the Tenth Anniversary Conference; Connie Millar 10 September 14-18, 2014, Midway, Utah Post-MtnClim Workshop for Resource Managers, Midway, Utah; Holly Hadley 19 September 18, 2014 Summary of Summaries: Key Messages from the Global Fair and Greg Greenwood 21 Workshop on Long-Term Observatories, Reno, Nevada; July 2014 Brevia Obtaining Downscaled Versions of the Latest Climate-Change Mike Dettinger 30 Scenarios A 2000-Year Reconstruction of Air Temperature in the Great Scott Reinemann, David Porinchu, Glen MacDonald, 31 Basin of the United States with Specifi c Reference to the Medieval Bryan Mark and James DeGrand Climatic Anomaly Hotter, Drier Climate Leads to More Tree Deaths from Fire Phillip van Mantgem 36 Climatic Changes in Mountain Regions: A Review of Historical Henry Diaz 38 Changes and Future Outlook in the American Cordillera and the Tropics Floods, Fire, and More—Climate Change Eff ects and Adaptation David Peterson 42 in the North Cascades i Mountains, Climate Change, and Conservation: Th e Role of Brenna Forester, Dean Urban, Th omas Schultz, 44 Landscape Genomics Jennifer Wernegreen, and Rob Dunn Interviews An Interview with Kelly Redmond; AGU 2014 Tyndall History of 48 Global Environmental Change Lecturer An Interview with Mike Dettinger; 2014 Fellow of the American 51 Geophysical Union Voices in the Wind Responses from Chris Daly, Sarah Null, Imtiaz Rangwala, Karen 54 Pope, Steve Kroiss, Jared Oyler, Monica Buhler, Alina Cansler, and Dave Porinchu News, Briefs, and Events David Inouye, New President of the Ecological Society of America 58 Mountain Research Initiative Convenes Meeting of the New Science 59 Leadership Council Mountains of Future Earth Conference: PERTH III 61 Mountain Social Ecological Observatory Network (MtnSEON) 62 Alpine and Arctic Treeline Ecotone Network Activities 64 New Book: Forest Conservation and the Anthropocene 65 Coordinated Distributed Experiments of Interest 66 Did You See (Hear, Feel, Touch, Smell) It? Willow Rust: A New Outbreak in the Great Basin Connie Millar 67 or Just a Pathogen New to Me? Contributing Artists 71 Mountain Visions 72 Valerie Cohen Art Mike Dettinger Poetry ii The Mountain Views Newsle er Welcome to Mountain Views, the biannual newsletter of the 10th anniversary for our consortium. The MtnClim 2014 the Consortium for Integrated Climate Research in Western Climate Conference convened at the Homestead Resort in the Mountains (CIRMOUNT, www.fs.fed.us/psw/cirmount/). Wasatch Mountains of Utah (page 10). I am happy to report that Gathered in these pages are reports on current mountain- Andy Bunn (Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA) climate and climate-response studies, Brevia of recently and Scotty Strachan (University of Nevada at Reno) agreed to published articles, book reviews, mountain climate news and take the role as lead organizers for the next conference, MtnClim announcements, and our seasonal round-up of mountain artwork 2016. Diane Delany (USFS, Albany, CA) and I are ready to pass and poetry. the torch, although we’re sure to keep our noses involved with future MtnClim planning. In the months since the last issue, CIRMOUNT scientists have claimed prominent recognition in professional society Coming soon in December is the annual Fall Meeting of the AGU leadership. Kelly Redmond, Regional Climatologist and Deputy in San Francisco, with two sessions organized by CIRMOUNT, Director of the Western Regional Climate Center, Reno, NV, one by the Mountain Research Initiative, and undoubtedly was selected by the American Geophysical Union (AGU) as mountain sessions organized by many of you. If you are the annual Tyndall History of Global Environmental Change interested in informal events during AGU, contact me (cmillar@ Lecturer, which honors Kelly’s outstanding contributions to fs.fed.us) about the annual CIRMOUNT dinner (Tues, 12/16) understanding and communicating global environmental change. or Greg Greenwood ([email protected]) about the MRI Mike Dettinger, Research Hydrologist with the US Geological Mountain Mixer, a new event this year (Thurs, 12/18). Survey and SCRIPPS Institution of Oceanography at La Jolla, CA, was elected to the 2014 Class of Fellows of the American The days may be getting shorter, but here in the Bay Area short- Geophysical Union for his critical body of climate-science work. sleeve weather prevails. I hope to fi nd snow in the Mono Basin I took these events as opportunities to talk with Kelly and Mike during the holidays this week, and I wish you and your families about their research goals, how they approach their work, and Thanksgiving tidings and winter mountain adventures ahead. how mountains fi t into their thinking. Read interviews with Kelly on page 48 and Mike on page 51. As a bonus, fi nd Kelly’s —Connie Millar, Editor photographs scattered through this issue and Mike’s poetry in the Mountain Visions section (inside back cover). Two other CIRMOUNT scientists are playing key roles in the Ecological Society of America: Jill Baron (USGS, Ft Collins, CO) and David Inouye (University of Maryland, College Park, MD) are 2014 President and 2015 President, respectively (see page 58). Congratulations to these four mountain scientists, and to all others in our community who have been recognized this past year. Mountain-science events also played prominently in our summer and fall calendars. Among these was the Global Fair and Workshop on Long-Term Observatories on Mountain Social- Ecological Systems, sponsored by the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI) and University of Nevada at Reno, where the conference was held. This event brought together an international group of scientists that focused on the current state and future needs of mountain observatories. A key function of the Fair and Workshop was not only to communicate current research results but to engage and catalyze effective ongoing discussion (page Connie rings in the herd after a break during MtnClim 2014. 21). CIRMOUNT’s fl agship MtnClim conference this year was Photo: Scotty Strachan 1 Parque Nacional Nevado de Tres Cruces, Chile: A Signifi cant Coldspot of Biodiversity in a High Andean Ecosystem Philip W. Rundel1 and Catherine C. Kleier2 1Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles California 2Department of Biology, Regis University, Denver, Colorado The arid high mountain ecosystems of the Andean Cordillera about 120 mm, with winter rains dominating and interannual in north-central Chile, low in biodiversity but with globally variation extremely high. The park lies just south of the transition signifi cant biota, are poorly protected by national parks and point between summer and winter rainfall regimes at about 24oS reserves. Strong economic forces associated with mineral latitude, with tis transition infl uenced by the southward position resources have left much of this region open to exploitation. of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Adding to the severe Fortunately, this situation improved with the establishment of climatic conditions in the park are high winds that are an almost Parque Nacional Nevado de Tres Cruce in 1994 in recognition constant characteristic of this region. of the need to protect fragile habitats of the high Andean steppe region. The park is located in the high Andean Cordillera of the Geomorphology and Landforms Norte Chico, about 150 km east of Copiapó. The geographic position of the park marks the southern extension of the Altiplano Rather than representing a single range, the central Andean Plateau of the central Andes. Nevado de Tres Cruces covers an Cordillera is comprises a series of parallel north- to south- area of 59,082 ha, divided into two sections. The larger Laguna trending ranges of volcanic origin. The Salar de Maricunga (Fig. Santa Rosa section comprises 46,944 ha, while the smaller and 2), one of the primary topographic features of Nevado de Tres separate Laguna Negro Francisco section to the south covers Cruces, lies in the closed depression lying between the Cordillera 12,138 ha (Fig.1). de Domeyko and Cordillera de Claudio Gay. This huge salar, surrounded by snow-capped peaks, contains scattered small Extreme aridity is the dominating aspect of the landscape of ponds fi lled with fl amingos in a matrix of shining white mineral Nevado de Tres Cruces, due both to low rainfall and steep fl ats. The Salar de Maricunga extends approximately 30 km topography with little vegetation cover to intercept rains. The in a north-south direction and has a maximum width of about limited climatic records suggest a mean annual precipitation of 15 km. The drainage area of the basin, including the Quebrada Ciénaga Redonda, is about 2190 km2. Driving across the salt fl ats provides an endless array of remarkable optical illusions of standing water just ahead.