The Glacier National Park GLORIA Project: a New US Target Region for Alpine Plant Monitoring Installed in the Northern Rocky Mountains, Montana Karen Holzer, Daniel B
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The Glacier National Park GLORIA Project: A new US Target Region for Alpine Plant Monitoring Installed in the Northern Rocky Mountains, Montana Karen Holzer, Daniel B. Fagre [email protected] [email protected] Acknowledgements: Presentation # U53A-0712 1340h USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center – Glacier Field Station, Glacier National Park, West Glacier, MT 59936, United States Blase Reardon, Melissa Hornbein, Tara Luna, Greg Peterson, Ali White, Lisa McKeon ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dancing Lady Mtn. (elevation 2245m) The Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA) Observations: Pitamakan (elevation 2493m) is an international research network whose purpose is to assess climate change •51 species of vascular plants were identified on Dancing Lady Mountain, and include Observations: impacts on vegetation in alpine environments worldwide. A standard protocol a mixture of grassland and alpine species. •59 species were recorded on Pitamakan which include a was developed by the international office in Vienna, Austria, and has specific •Dominant species on Dancing Lady were Eriogonum androsaceum, Agoseris glauca, combination of alpine and sub-alpine species, with lower site requirements and techniques that allow sites to be compared worldwide. Senecio canus, Potentilla fruticosa L., Oxytropis sericea Nutt., Eriogonum ovalifolium elevation species seeming to predominate on the East side of This protocol requires four summits to be selected within a target region, Nutt., Minuartia nuttallii (Pax), and Minuartia rubella (Wahl.). the peak and higher elevation species on the West side. covering zonal differences of subalpine to nival, and on each of these summits •Dominant species on Pitamakan were Achillea millefolium, intensive vegetation plots are set up and monitored on a five year interval. Arnica latifolia, Astragalus bourgovii, Erigeron compositus Summary: var. glabratus, Penstemon ellipticus, Polemonium The highest diversity and ground cover occured within the east summit area sections pulcherrimum var. pulcherrimum Senecio cymbalaria, Senecio and most of these species occur in mats of Potentilla fruticosa L which has the highest cymbalarioides, Solidago multiradiata var. scopulorum, and vegetation cover within this area. Stellaria Americana. Dancing Lady Soil Temp C August 2003 - July 2004 Bison Soil Temp C 25 August 2003 - June 2004 20 25 20 15 Summary: 15 10 Temperature Data 10 5 In general the vegetative communities on Pitamakan are a mix of alpine and sub-alpine 5 0 Temp C Temp from first year: 0 -5 C Temp species, with lower elevation species seeming to predominate on the East side of the peak and Temp C -5 -10 -10 -15 Temp C -15 higher elevation species on the West side. On the ridge to the West of the HSP, which runs -20 -20 9/9/2003 3/9/2004 4/6/2004 5/4/2004 6/1/2004 into Pitamakan Pass, there is a rich community of alpine vegetation which could serve as a 8/26/2003 9/23/2003 10/7/2003 11/4/2003 12/2/2003 1/13/2004 1/27/2004 2/10/2004 2/24/2004 3/23/2004 4/20/2004 5/18/2004 6/15/2004 6/29/2004 7/13/2004 10/21/2003 11/18/2003 12/16/2003 12/30/2003 4/7/2004 5/5/2004 6/2/2004 Date 8/13/2003 8/27/2003 9/10/2003 9/24/2003 10/8/2003 11/5/2003 12/3/2003 1/14/2004 1/28/2004 2/11/2004 2/25/2004 3/10/2004 3/24/2004 4/21/2004 5/19/2004 6/16/2004 10/22/2003 11/19/2003 12/17/2003 12/31/2003 Date source for upslope migration. On the East side, the drop into krumholz and sub-alpine Only three target regions in North America have been completed to date, one meadows is steep and rapid, and the vegetation is dominated by species characteristic of these Bison Mtn. (elevation 2387m) in Glacier National Park, Montana, and the other two in the Sierra Nevada and slightly wetter, more sheltered environments. White Mountains, California. Observations: •82 species of vascular plants were identified on Bison Mountain and include a mixture of grassland and alpine species. Typical grassland species such as Festuca idahoensis, Geum triflorum and Heterotheca villosa were Seward Mtn. (elevation 2717m) During the summers of 2003 and 2004 we found growing intermixed with common alpine species such as Poa glauca, Dryas octopetala, Silene acaulis and Minuartia obtusiloba. Observations: completed 4 GLORIA summit area plots •39 species were recorded on Seward and were predominantly alpine. in our target region of Glacier National •Northern Rocky Mountain endemic species found on Bison include: Arnica alpina v. tomentosa, Douglasia montana, Eriogonum androsaceum, Hedysarum sulphurescens, Stellaria americana, and Townsendia parryi. •Species that exhibited dominance over the whole summit area were Smelowskia calycina Park. The Continental Divide bisects var. americana, Polemonium viscosum, Potentilla diversifolia var. diversifolia, Erigeron Glacier National Park and we decided to compositus var. glabratus, Carex albonigra, and Saxifraga bronchialis ssp. austromontana. choose summits only East of the divide to stay within a similar climatic pattern. Our sites run North to South on the East side Summary: Summary: of the divide with our highest summit Although overall vegetation cover was low in all areas surveyed, some small The areas of highest species diversity and overall vegetative (Seward Mtn.) as the northernmost and patches of turf development dominated by alpine sedges and grasses (Carex density were on the North and East sides of the summit, our lowest summit (Dancing Lady) atrosquama, Carex nardina, Festuca brachyphylla, and Poa glauca) were seen increasing towards the convergence of these two sides along southernmost. especially on the north and west slopes of the mountain. Most notable was the the NE break in slope, and decreasing in both density and frequency of dead and dying alpine cushion species of Silene acaulis and diversity towards the South and West sides. All four sides of Minuartia obtusiloba on the south and west slopes at both the 5 and 10 meter the peak exhibit distinct vegetative composition and variable sections. Dead plants of both species were also found on the east and north densities, with the greatest degree of overlap in micro- sections, but less frequently. community composition at the NE corner, and the lowest amounts of both vegetative cover and species richness on the West and South sides. Conclusion: Treeline in the target region is strongly influenced by terrain and significantly more variable than in the central Rocky Mountains. This also was true of zonal differences of alpine vegetation. Subalpine and even grassland species were found on the same summits as upper alpine species. While different zonal areas often occurred on one summit, they were highly influenced by the aspect and slope of that summit area. We had some difficulty finding sites due to: Between 51 and 82 vascular plants were documented on each summit. There was a high degree of variability in species diversity and percent cover on each summit that was correlated to directional exposure. • the steep and rocky glaciated terrain within Glacier National Park Strong prevailing winds contribute to the variability with aspect; these winds scour snow from windward slopes, thereby reducing insulation and soil moisture. The summit morphology caused loose vegetative •the fact that it is hard to determine elevational treeline in this area as it is associations, or micro-communities, that varied with exposure, slope angle, and substrate character. Species that exhibited dominance within the target region were Smelowskia calycina var. americana, influenced more by terrain and climatic factors than elevation Polemonium viscosum, Achillea millefolium, Erigeron compositus var. glabratus, and Potentilla fruticosa L. These species reflected the same variability in percent cover on the four sides of the summit areas as did • multi day approaches to sites the vegetation as a whole, but were present on all sides. For more information on GLORIA visit the international web site: www.gloria.ac.at/res/gloria_home/.