Mountain Environments – Geography 006D
The US Geological Survey is actively involved in environmental research in Glacier National Park, Montana. Through their Biological
Resources Division, research is being conducted on Bear Ecology, Global
Climate Change, Whitebark & Limber Pine Ecology, Mountain Landscape
Ecology, Repeat Photography, Amphibian Ecology, and the alpine treeline ectone, among other things. The work is accomplished through the Northern
Rocky Mountain Science Center – Glacier Field Station.
The web site of the Glacier National Park Field Station is
http://www.nrmsc.usgs.gov/research/gfs_research.htm. See the course outline as well that lists other useful web sites to learn more about Glacier
National Park. By using the URL provided, go to the web site and start by reading the fact sheet about the current research projects being conducted. Then begin examining some of the information about up to five of the research themes that are being studied in this special mountain environment. Follow some of the links and see what they turn up, keeping in mind that the area of emphasis is Glacier National Park, but alo Rocky
Mountain National Park, Olympic and North Cascades National Park, and
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. Below are some specific questions for you to consider, with emphasis on the alpine treeline ecotone and pattern-process relationships.

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Glacier National Park, a UNESCO-designated Biosphere Reserve, is located in NW Montana, USA, bordering Canada along the Park’s northern boundary. The Park is ~ 400,000 ha in size, has peaks with elevations of nearly 3200 m, and sits astride the Continental Divide, which follows the
Livingston Range in the north and the Lewis Range in the east. The Lewis
Overthrust is the dominant structural feature in the Park. It is responsible for the emplacement of Precambrian Belt Series formations overtop of relatively incompetent Cretaceous shales and mudstones. Areas above treeline in the Livingston Range tend to be steeper and geomorphically more active, with little colluvial cover.
Glacier National Park is a landscape of immense topographic variation that has been shaped by tectonic actions associated with mountain building, over-thrusting and deformation of geologic strata, and the glacial scouring of the landscape through glacial advances and retreats. During the
Pleistocene period (11,000 – 14,000 years ago), glaciation was widespread in the Park, carving deep glacial U-shaped valleys and a suite of typical alpine erosional landforms such as horns, cirques, aretes, cols, paternoster lakes, and hanging valleys.
Since the recession of Pleistocene ice in the Park, the landscape has been in a state of disequilibrium as slopes continue to adjust to deglacial conditions. Landslides are common on valley side-slopes and along the leading edge of the Lewis Over-thrust, and over 1,000 snow-avalanche paths are incised on the steep valley side-slopes throughout the Park. Swift-flowing streams and seasonal flooding characterize valley bottoms, except in areas where beaver have modified the riparian landscape through dam emplacement, pond creation, and subsequent sedimentation.
(1) Having examined some of the research projects under the active areas of study that are on-going in the Park and associated with
USGS, prepare a brief summary of at least one project. What is the project major research objective? What are the primary data

3 and methods being used? And what are the basic findings of the research projects thus far? Remember, factors that influence treeline are most important to us, but think broadly around the processes.
(2) Much of what is being done in the Park is assessing environmental change. The Repeat Photography research is very specifically looking at how mountain landscapes in the Park have changed over time through photography taken at roughly the same geographic position but at multiple points in time. But other projects are also considering environmental change and how mountain environments are responding – some through changes in the extents of glaciers, some through changes in vegetation, and some through changes in animal populations or variations in their habitat. Consider the issue of environmental change, and describe how change is specifically being manifested in Glacier National Park. Assess, from the reported research findings as well as images provided, what in general can be said about environmental change in the Park.
(3) This section should address research methods and scales of analysis. What kinds of methods are being used to study mountain environments in the Park, and what scales are being used to focus their studies? What is meant by scale here is the ecological scale at which studies are being conducted. Examples of ecological scales might include studies involving specific trees, patches (a contiguous unit of vegetation like a stand of pine trees), slopes, valleys, or mountain ranges. Besides the ecological scale, what time scales are being examined – this means how often measurements are being collected for different studies – each day, week, month, season, year, decade??? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the scales being used – what do we learn and what do we give up?
(4) So consider each of the above areas of questions. Prepare a Lab
Report that addresses each of them. The paper should be 2-3 pages in length (typed, double-spaced).