The California / Nevada GLORIA Project:
Status, Methodology, Data & Future Plans
Death Valley National Park, 2013 Initial Survey Report
Adelia Barber, GLORIA California
July 2014
Summary of GLORIA activities in California & Nevada
Rising global temperatures are predicted to disproportionately affect alpine
ecosystems. The plants at the tops of the world’s highest mountains, unlike sub-alpine
species, cannot migrate to new locations upslope as the climate warms. One of the most
ambitious global projects for vegetation assessment in the alpine zone is the international
GLORIA project (GLobal Observation & Research Initiative in Alpine environments), a
standardized assessment protocol for monitoring changes in plant distribution and
abundance on high-elevation summits every 5 years. Globally, over 350 sites have been
surveyed using this protocol. At each site plant abundance data is taken for 8 sections of
the summit (divided by aspect and elevation), smaller permanent plots are established for
more detailed abundance data, the entire summit is extensively photographed, and
temperature loggers are installed to measure soil temperatures.
The USDA Forest Service organization CIRMOUNT (Consortium for Integrated
Climate Research in Western Mountains) and the White Mountain Research Station
(WMRS) sponsored the establishment of the first North American GLORIA summits in
California in 2004 in the White Mountains and in the Sierra Nevada. Since that time,
other branches of the USDA Forest Service, the National Park Service (NPS), the
Californian Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit (CA-CESU), and volunteer researchers
from the UC system have sponsored the establishment of a total 8 GLORIA target
regions in California and Nevada, consisting of 29 high summits. A GLORIA target
region is comprised of a cluster of 3-4 summit sites in a single mountain range and
uniform geological substrate. In 2013, a California non-profit organization (“GLORIA
California”) was established to help support GLORIA activities in California and Nevada
over the long term.
The GLORIA protocol calls for the summits in each target region to be surveyed
every 5 years. Eighteen summits in California & Nevada have been resurveyed once (5
yrs after the initial survey); 3 in the Carson Range near Tahoe, 4 in the Sierra Nevada, 7
in the White Mountains, and 4 in Great Basin National Park. Summits in 3 other target
regions have been established and are awaiting resurvey (3 summits in the Sweetwater
Range, 4 near Mt. Langley in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, and 3 in Death
Valley National Park). Planned for 2014 is the 3rd resurvey of the 8 summits that were
first established in 2004 (in the White Mountain Range and in the Sierra Nevada).
The California-Nevada GLORIA project is an extensive interagency cooperative
project with a large volunteer and citizen science component. This group has been central
to developing new methods for surveying alpine plants on mountain tops with sparse
vegetation, and applying the GLORIA methods to plant communities down slope from
the main GLORIA summits. The field work is typically completed by volunteers and
federal agency staff with botanical expertise. Volunteers typically include botany
students from California/Nevada universities, members of the California and Nevada
Native Plant Societies, and other interested parties. An organizer/field director is hired
by an agency or by GLORIA California organizes to coordinate the field work and data
entry. The GLORIA project is designed to operate with only basic funding: the
equipment is simple and inexpensive, the work force is largely volunteer and the field
crews camp to access most summits. With only a moderate amount of material support
and funding, this project should be able to continue for many decades to come. The
GLORIA methodologies are designed to record slow changes in alpine plant
communities over multiple decades, thus it is somewhat early to make speculations about
potential changes in species composition from our 5-yr resurvey data of 14 summits,
although we have documented a number of new species on certain sites and a die-back of
some shrubs on others. Baseline data from the alpine zone will become important in the
coming decades as climate changes advance, and the GLORIA project in California and
Nevada is one of the only established projects that covers both a wide geographical scale
and is designed to continue for decades or centuries.
Summary of GLORIA Layout: The GLORIA protocol includes several different types
of sampling, designed to measure species occurrence on different aspects of each summit,
relative abundance of the plant species, percent cover of different substrate types (e.g.,
rock vs. bare ground), as well as percent cover for each species. See Figure 1 for a
diagram of the layout.
Figure 1: GLORIA Sampling design shown on an example summit (Source:
GLORIA Field Manual Figure 8.1)
Summary of GLORIA Data Collection
A. Presence/Absence and Relative Abundance Data (termed Summit Area Sections
or SASs): The summit is divided into 8 sections (the upper 5 meter zones in the North,
East, South, & West, and the upper 10 meter zones in the North, East, South, & West).
Each section is delineated with colored string during the fieldwork.
For each summit area section, the following data is taken:
1. Complete species list for each section – Most plants are identified to species,
subspecies, or variety in the field. Some samples are taken to complete identification
in the lab. For species that are very rare, some data is taken on specific location (e.g.,
“the single Draba breweri in this section is located under the large talus block that is
situated 3.5 meters NE of the high summit point”).
2. Abundance codes – Each plant is designated as common, dominant, scattered, rare,
or very rare (based on specific criteria).
3. Percent cover of substrate types – Estimates of percent cover are made for the
following substrate types: vascular plants, solid rock, scree, bare ground, and litter.
The GLORIA protocol calls for estimates of percent cover of lichens growing ground
and bryophytes ground on ground, since neither of these are present in most of our
California sites, this data has generally been excluded. On certain sites with some
tree cover (e.g., Buck Mountain in Great Basin National Park), the category
“Overstory” has been added to capture an estimate of tree cover.
4. Optional percent cover for each species – The original GLORIA protocol called for
an ocular estimate of percent cover for each species within each summit area section
(e.g., Arabis inyoensis covers .01 sq. meters of the North 5-meter section, or Ribes
cereum covers 3 sq. meters of the East 10-meter section). Due to the very rocky and
steep nature of some of our summits, many of our data-takers felt that this data was
very subjective and inaccurate. The first surveys done from 2004-2008 (target regions
WIM, SND, WDS, LAN, CAT, and GRB) included this data, it was excluded from
subsequent surveys.
5. Optional comments on grazing impacts – A box for comments on grazing is
included on all the GLORIA forms, due to the abundance of sheep and cattle grazing
on European summits. None of the California/Nevada summits are significantly
impacted by livestock grazing, thus this box is often used to comment on the very
occasional lagomorph or marmot herbivory of some of the plants.
B. Smaller sampling quadrats (termed 3x3 grids or 1-m square plots): The GLORIA
protocol calls for 4- 3x3 meter grids to be added at specific places in the layout (at the
intersection of the 5-meter line and each cardinal direction line, see Figure 1). In each
3x3 meter grid, the 4 corner 1x1 meter plots are sampled (yielding 16 total sampled plots
on each summit), the middle grids in the 3x3 plot are used as walkways to keep foot
traffic off the sampling plots.
The original GLORIA protocol called for these plots to be placed in very specific
places. Due to the sparse vegetation on many of our summits, these specifically placed
plots were sometimes completely devoid of vegetation. The new GLORIA protocol
made allowances for moving the plots horizontally along the 5-meter contour line until
vegetation was located. However, moving the plots in this way did not always yield a
vegetated area to sample. In many of our rocky summits, there exist small pockets of
secured substrate with a very high density and diversity of plants in a tiny area (usually
less than 1m square); plots placed according to a grid rarely capture these areas. The
placement of plots on the Californian summits reflects a hybrid of the official GLORIA
methods and our own methods. On our original summits, the plots were placed exactly as
described in the original protocol, and in subsequent resurveys new plots have been
added in vegetated areas. The original (non-vegetated) plots are marked, and can be
checked for new vegetation at each resurvey. On summits that were first surveyed in
later years, occasional plots were moved slightly horizontally or vertically from the 5meter line to accommodate vegetation.
For each of the 16- 1x1 meter plots, the following data is taken:
1. Complete species list
2. Ocular estimate of percent cover for each species
3. Point count of plant species or substrates under each of 100 grid points
C. Larger sampling plots: The GLORIA protocol was developed in Austria, and many
European summits are more vegetated than typical summits in the American west. The
rocky nature of Californian summits necessitates some additional sampling for accurate
percent cover estimates of vegetation. Thus, we have added 4 -10x10 meter plots in the
same vicinity of the 1x1 meter plots on each aspect.
For each of the 4-1x1 meter plots, the following data is taken:
1. Complete species list
2. Point count of plant species or substrates under each of 400 grid points
D. Temperature Loggers
Temperature loggers are buried on each aspect of each summit (4 per summit) and record
hourly soil temperatures. GLORIA summits in California & Nevada have utilized Onset
brand Tidbit v2 units, Stowaway units, or Water Temp Pro units. Each of these Onset
temperature loggers has a data life of 4.9 years, thus need to be downloaded at some point
prior to the 5-year resurvey.
E. Digital Photographs
Digital photographs are taken of: all sampling plots, all summit area section corners and
boundaries, placement of the temperature data loggers, the general landscape of the
summits, and of the data-taking process. In recent years, photographs have also been
taken of representative individuals of each species present on the summit.
Death Valley National Park GLORIA Target Region
Target Region Code: DEV
Location: The Panamint Range is located in southern California’s Death Valley National
Park. It is a dry, desert mountain range on the northern edge of the Mojave Desert; the
highest peak in the range is Telescope Peak at 11,049 feet (3,368 meters).
Conception and Site Survey: The initial set-up of a GLORIA target region in Death
Valley National Park (DEVA) was organized by Dr. Angela Evenden (NPS Science
Advisor with the CA-CESU at UC Berkeley), Jane Cipra (DEVA botanist), and Dr.
Adelia Barber (GLORIA California). Temperature loggers were provided by the Mojave
Desert Network Inventory and Monitoring Program. A preliminary site survey was
conducted by Drew Kaiser (DEVA biological technician) in September of 2012. Four
peaks were located along the North-South ridge leading to Telescope Peak that
conformed to GLORIA site specifics. Telescope Peak is a popular hiking destination,
thus the GLORIA site was located on a false summit, slightly off the main trail, just
below the main Telescope Peak summit.
Following is a general location map and photographs of the four peaks included in the
DEV Target Region.
Figure DEV.1 – Map of the 4 GLORIA Sites in the DEV Target Region
Figure DEV.2 – Pictures of the 4 GLORIA Sites in the DEV Target Region
A. LOW Summit, 9572 ft
B. BEN Summit, Bennett Peak, 9980 ft (Telescope Peak in the background)
C. MID Summit, 9695 ft
D. TEL Summit, “Middle” Summit of Telescope Peak, 11025 ft (view is from the
highest telescope summit back north towards the GLORIA summit, the south
quadrat is visible in the photo)
Logistics and Notes Concerning 2013 DEV Field Work
Dates: Fieldwork was conducted between June 24 and June 27, 2013 following the
GLORIA protocol summarized earlier in this document (the complete GLORIA field
manual can be found online, http://www.gloria.ac.at/).
The first resurvey of the DEV Target Region needs to be planned for June of 2018.
Temperature loggers will need to be checked and replaced during the summer of 2016.
Phenology: Many species were past flowering during our survey in late June, but the
preceding winter was unusually dry. Future resurveys may be more optimally scheduled
earlier in June.
Crew Logistics: The crew camped at the Mahogany Flat campground, a developed
campground with toilets but no water. NPS vehicles were used to transport the crew up
the gated, 4WD road from Mahogany Flat to the parking area near the radio towers at
Rogers Peak. Vehicle transportation from the campsite to Rogers Peaks was absolutely
critical for successful completion of the sites within a day. Future resurveys should not
be attempted without NPS support in the form of access through the gated road and 4WD
vehicles.
Weather: The weather was clear all week during the initial survey in 2013, although
there were reports that lighting stuck some of the trees on Telescope Peak the following
week.
2013 Participants:
Jane Cipra, Botanist, Death Valley National Park
Drew Kaiser, Biological Science Technician, Death Valley National Park
Shannon Mazzei, Biological Science Technician, Death Valley National Park
Matt Romeyn, Biological Science Technician, Death Valley National Park
Mary Levandowski, Science Technician, National Park Service Mojave Desert Network
Inventory and Monitoring Program
Angela Evenden, NPS Science Advisor, NPS & CA-CESU
Chris Kopp & Ellen Esch, Graduate Students, UC San Diego
Meagan Oldfather & Mike Koontz, Graduate Students, UC Berkeley
Naomi Fraga, Conservation Botanist, Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden
Melissa Lippincott, Biologist, Power Engineers, Anaheim, CA
Colin Maher, Graduate Student, University of Montana, Missoula
Adelia Barber, Graduate Student, UC Santa Cruz
Jim & Catie Bishop, Botanists & GLORIA California Board Members
Jan Nachlinger, Botanist & GLORIA California Board Member
Viriginia Moran, Nan Carnal, and Jody Steffan-Campbell, independent botanists
Hiking and survey times:
LOW Site: 15 min hiking time from cars, 6 hrs 30 min work time
BEN Site: 20-30 min hiking time from cars, 6 hrs 15 min work time
MID Site: 30-45 min hiking time from cars, 4 hrs 15 min work time
TEL Site: A backpacking crew left the MID site at 1:45pm and arrived at Telescope Peak
at 4pm, 4 people spent the night on Telescope Peak. The rest of the crew hiked to
Telescope from the cars in the morning, fast hikers arrived at the peak in 1 hr 15 min and
slower hikers arrived in 2 hrs.
Survey Details
Geology: All 4 sites are located on similar quartzite substrates, described on geological
maps as undivided Johnnie and Wyman formations (late proterozoic).
Site specifics:
-
LOW site: This site has a fairly stable substrate (except for some areas on the
west side) and is rarely visited by hikers.
BEN site: This site is gently sloped and the substrate is stable, it is a somewhat
frequently visited peak, thus the spray paint mark at the summit was hidden.
MID site: This site has some trees which obstruct the plots, and the substrate on
the east side is very loose and sandy.
TEL site: The substrate on this site is stable, but the main trail to the Telescope
peak summit runs through the plots. Most hikers on the trail likely continue
straight to the main summit of Telescope and do not visit the “false” summit that
we surveyed as a GLORIA site. Several of the summit area sections were situated
around a ridge, and the plant community was different on each aspect of the ridge,
but data was taken only within each summit area section.
Alterations to methodology for DEV summits: All 4 summits in Death Valley
conformed nicely to the “ideal” GLORIA summit shape, and most were fairly heavily
vegetated (compared to other California Summits). Therefore, alterations to GLORIA
methodology for these summits was fairly minor.
1. The MID site east slope is steep with very loose substrate and some small trees,
making for a very difficult survey environment. The 10x10 plot on the east side
was moved to a location closer to the high summit point.
2. No 3x3 plots were moved to different locations in order to capture additional
vegetation.
3. Paint marks were hidden or rocks were turned over on both Bennett and
Telescope peak.
Data loggers: Onset Brand Tidbit v2 data loggers were buried on all 4 aspects of each
summit for a total of 16 loggers in the DEV target region.
Data features: Most species were easily identified on all 4 summits. The biggest
challenge for this target region was how to categorize plants that were mostly dead with a
small portion of living material. Many Opuntia and Artemisia individuals were 50-90%
dead with a small portion of living material. Plants were classified as litter in percent
cover estimates if over 95% of the plant was dead.
Location of 2013 data, photographs, herbarium vouchers: Vegetation and site data
was entered into an Excel spreadsheet. Digital photographs were labeled and organized
following GLORIA protocols. Identification of plant sample vouchers was completed by
Jane Cipra and Drew Kaiser at Death Valley National Park. All data and photographs are
stored in three locations: California GLORIA office, an online database of all GLORIA
California files, and the DEVA Resource Management Office. Plant vouchers are stored
at the DEVA herbarium.
Results
Species Occurrence: 43 plant species were recorded between all 4 peaks in the DEV
target region. Nomenclature follows TMJ2. The highest species diversity was at the
LOW site (30 species) and the lowest species diversity was on Telescope Peak (17
species).
Very common species, found abundantly on all summits include Artemesia dracunculus,
Artemesia nova, Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus and Oenothera cespitosa ssp. crinita.
The botanists most familiar with these species (Jan Nachlinger, Naomi Fraga, Drew
Kaiser, and Jane Cipra) were very confident in most species determinations. There was
one unknown Castilleja sp. that was only found in vegetative form. The determination of
Artemesia nova was in keeping with most samples taken in Death Valley NP, although
some members of the botany crew felt that a sagebrush expert should look at the samples
taken from the entire park, because the lack of A. tridentata is curious. Sporobolus
cryptandrus was definitively present on Telescope Peak, even though this is much higher
than it’s expected range.
Table DEV.1 Species Found in the DEV Target Region
SPECIES
Argemone munita
Artemisia dracunculus
Artemisia nova
Astragalus gilmanii
Calyptridium parryi var. nevadense
Castilleja applegatei ssp. martini
Castilleja sp. unknown
Chaenactis douglasii var. douglasii
Chamaebatiaria millefolium
Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus
Cryptantha hoffmanni
Elymus elymoides
Ephedra viridis
Ericameria gilmanii
Erigeron clokeyi
Eriogonum microthecum
Eriogonum umbellatum ssp. versicolor
Galium hilendiae ssp. carneum
Gutierrezia sarothrae
Heuchera rubescens
Keckiella rothrockii ssp. rothrockii
Linanthus pungens
Physaria kingii
BEN
1
4
7
6
4
5
1
1
8
7
4
8
8
8
Summits1
LOW MID
7
8
7
7
8
1
6
1
2
7
5
1
8
8
8
2
5
4
1
7
5
1
8
8
4
4
7
6
5
6
6
2
4
3
4
8
TEL
1
1
Abundance Codes2
d
c
s
r
r!
1
2
11
8
5
3
22
3
1
2
1
7
4
2
1
2
1
4
10
4
2
7
5
1
3
6
9
10
3
1
1
16
9
1
2
8
2
5
1
5
4
1
1
3
1
10
9
1
1
5
7
3
4
1
1
1
1
1
6
5
1
Linum perenne
Lupinus argenteus ssp. argenteus
Oenothera cespitosa ssp. crinita
Opuntia polyacantha var. erinacea
Orobanche fasciculata
Pellaea breweri
Penstemon rostriflorus
Phacelia crenulata
Phlox stansburyi
Pinus flexilis
Pinus longaeva
Pinus monophylla
Pleiacanthus spinosus
Ribes cereum
Salvia pachyphylla
Silene sp. unknown
Sporobolus cryptandrus
Achnatherum hymenoides
Achnatherum pinetorum
Tetradymia canescens
SPECIES RICHNESS PER SUMMIT
6
6
8
8
3
3
8
6
2
5
8
2
5
2
4
5
7
1
28
7
6
8
8
3
7
1
1
1
7
8
7
8
30
7
6
1
4
1
2
2
1
2
3
5
1
7
3
1
6
25
6
5
5
2
6
11
9
5
6
9
4
1
7
1
2
11
3
1
1
6
5
4
5
8
4
2
4
8
4
3
4
5
1
17
1
1
Table Notes: 1 – Numbers in the summit columns represent the total number of Summit
Area Sections (SAS - 8 total on each summit) that contained each species. 2 - Numbers in
the abundance codes columns represent the total number of SASs receiving each code for
each species. These numbers are for ALL summits (4 summits x 8 SAS per summit).
Codes: Dominant (d), Common (c), Scattered (s), Rare (r), Very Rare (r!). For example:
Data under summits shows that Artemesia nova was recorded on every summit, in almost
every summit area section (except for 1 summit area section on BEN, Bennett Peak). In
22 summit area sections A. nova was recorded as ‘common’, and only in a few other
summit area sections was it recorded in lesser abundance classes.
Percent Cover of Substrate Types: On average, the DEV summits were 48% scree and
28% vegetated, with lesser quantities of bare ground, litter, and solid rock. Figure DEV.3
shows the break down by summit. Overall, the summits in the DEV target region are
much more homogenous in substrate composition than most of the other GLORIA target
regions, thus they are closer to the “ideal” set of GLORIA summits by providing a
consistent backdrop over which to measure vegetation change over time at different
elevations.
2
5
5
3
2
1
5
2
3
4
2
4
3
1
1
12
1
Figure Dev.4 Substrate breakdown by summit
Substrate Percent Cover by Summit
100.0
90.0
Percent Cover
80.0
70.0
60.0
Vascular Plant
Solid Rock
50.0
Scree
40.0
Litter
30.0
Bare Ground
20.0
10.0
0.0
BEN
LOW
Summit
MID
TEL
Future Considerations:
1) The dieback of several species, namely Opuntia and Artemisia suggests that some
kind of vegetation change may be underway on these summits. Care should be
taken to accurately estimate “vegetated” vs. “litter” classes in shrubs that are
mostly dead.
2) Telescope and Bennett peaks may experience increasing foot traffic in future
years, which may account for future vegetation change.
3) Logistical considerations – these sites would be particularly hard to access
without NPS support up the gated road, thus future support from Death Valley NP
is important to continued monitoring of these GLORIA sites.
4) Data loggers need to be replaced or checked in the summer of 2016.
Contact for more information:
Adelia Barber
adelia@gloriacalifornia.org
408-688-7141