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
Presentation # U53A-0712 1340h
Karen_holzer@usgs.gov dan_fagre@usgs.gov
USGS Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center – Glacier Field Station, Glacier National Park, West Glacier, MT 59936, United States
Acknowledgements:
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)
Pitamakan (elevation 2493m)
Observations:
is an international research network whose purpose is to assess climate change
Observations:
•51 species of vascular plants were identified on Dancing Lady Mountain, and include
impacts on vegetation in alpine environments worldwide. A standard protocol
•59 species were recorded on Pitamakan which include a
a mixture of grassland and alpine species.
was developed by the international office in Vienna, Austria, and has specific
combination of alpine and sub-alpine species, with lower
•Dominant species on Dancing Lady were Eriogonum androsaceum, Agoseris glauca,
site requirements and techniques that allow sites to be compared worldwide.
elevation species seeming to predominate on the East side of
Senecio canus, Potentilla fruticosa L., Oxytropis sericea Nutt., Eriogonum ovalifolium
This protocol requires four summits to be selected within a target region,
the peak and higher elevation species on the West side.
Nutt., Minuartia nuttallii (Pax), and Minuartia rubella (Wahl.).
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
August 2003 - June 2004
25
25
20
20
Temperature Data
from first year:
Temp C
10
5
0
-5
Temp C
15
10
Temp C
15
5
0
-5
-10
-10
Temp C
-15
-15
6/2/2004
5/5/2004
6/16/2004
4/7/2004
5/19/2004
4/21/2004
3/24/2004
3/10/2004
2/25/2004
2/11/2004
1/28/2004
1/14/2004
12/3/2003
12/31/2003
11/5/2003
12/17/2003
10/8/2003
9/24/2003
11/19/2003
10/22/2003
9/10/2003
8/27/2003
6/1/2004
7/13/2004
6/29/2004
5/4/2004
6/15/2004
4/6/2004
5/18/2004
3/9/2004
4/20/2004
3/23/2004
-20
8/13/2003
Date
2/24/2004
2/10/2004
1/27/2004
1/13/2004
12/2/2003
11/4/2003
12/30/2003
12/16/2003
10/7/2003
11/18/2003
10/21/2003
9/9/2003
9/23/2003
8/26/2003
-20
Date
Only three target regions in North America have been completed to date, one
in Glacier National Park, Montana, and the other two in the Sierra Nevada and
White Mountains, California.
During the summers of 2003 and 2004 we
completed 4 GLORIA summit area plots
in our target region of Glacier National
Park. The Continental Divide bisects
Glacier National Park and we decided to
choose summits only East of the divide to
stay within a similar climatic pattern. Our
sites run North to South on the East side
of the divide with our highest summit
(Seward Mtn.) as the northernmost and
our lowest summit (Dancing Lady)
southernmost.
We had some difficulty finding sites due to:
• the steep and rocky glaciated terrain within Glacier National Park
•the fact that it is hard to determine elevational treeline in this area as it is
influenced more by terrain and climatic factors than elevation
• multi day approaches to sites
Bison Mtn. (elevation 2387m)
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
found growing intermixed with common alpine species such as Poa glauca, Dryas octopetala, Silene acaulis
and Minuartia obtusiloba.
•Northern Rocky Mountain endemic species found on Bison include: Arnica alpina v. tomentosa, Douglasia
montana, Eriogonum androsaceum, Hedysarum sulphurescens, Stellaria americana, and Townsendia parryi.
Summary:
Although overall vegetation cover was low in all areas surveyed, some small
patches of turf development dominated by alpine sedges and grasses (Carex
atrosquama, Carex nardina, Festuca brachyphylla, and Poa glauca) were seen
especially on the north and west slopes of the mountain. Most notable was the
frequency of dead and dying alpine cushion species of Silene acaulis and
Minuartia obtusiloba on the south and west slopes at both the 5 and 10 meter
sections. Dead plants of both species were also found on the east and north
sections, but less frequently.
Summary:
In general the vegetative communities on Pitamakan are a mix of alpine and sub-alpine
species, with lower elevation species seeming to predominate on the East side of the peak and
higher elevation species on the West side. On the ridge to the West of the HSP, which runs
into Pitamakan Pass, there is a rich community of alpine vegetation which could serve as a
source for upslope migration. On the East side, the drop into krumholz and sub-alpine
meadows is steep and rapid, and the vegetation is dominated by species characteristic of these
slightly wetter, more sheltered environments.
Seward Mtn. (elevation 2717m)
Observations:
•39 species were recorded on Seward and were predominantly alpine.
•Species that exhibited dominance over the whole summit area were Smelowskia calycina
var. americana, Polemonium viscosum, Potentilla diversifolia var. diversifolia, Erigeron
compositus var. glabratus, Carex albonigra, and Saxifraga bronchialis ssp. austromontana.
Summary:
The areas of highest species diversity and overall vegetative
density were on the North and East sides of the summit,
increasing towards the convergence of these two sides along
the NE break in slope, and decreasing in both density and
diversity towards the South and West sides. All four sides of
the peak exhibit distinct vegetative composition and variable
densities, with the greatest degree of overlap in microcommunity 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.
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.
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
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,
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
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/