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This is a collaborative project to support enhanced camas prairie monitoring and synthesis of existing camas lily monitoring data in the Weippe Prairie Unit of Nez Perce National Historical Park (NEPE) and in Big Hole National Battlefield (BIHO), within the Upper Columbia Basin Network (UCBN). The NPS will work with Oregon State University (OSU) to: (1) Synthesize camas monitoring data from NEPE and BIHO dating back to 2005 with weather and soil moisture and water table data to describe how variation in climate and weather influences soil moisture and camas density and flowering rates; (2) augment the existing camas monitoring protocol with new standard operating procedures for establishing and surveying permanent...
The objective of this project is to integrate observations from multiple image acquisition platforms into a coherent time series of glacier volume changes for a variety of sites in the Pacific Northwest, including South Cascade Glacier and the others in Washington State (e.g., Mt. Olympus, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Baker). Specific objectives include: Enhancing glacier mass balance methodology by incorporating newly derived and reanalyzed geodetic records in the form of Digital Elevation Models and associated Area Altitude Distributions. Estimating regional patterns of glacier mass balance by expanding the spatial density of mass balance measurements and the geographic diversity of monitored glaciers. Understanding hydrologic...
Climate change is expected to result in changes in plant-pollinator interactions, but the severity of these changes is not yet clearly understood. This project will address both spatial and temporal effects of climate change on plant-pollinator interactions by studying butterfly and plant phenology in alpine and subalpine environments of Mount Rainier National Park (MORA). Western Washington University and the National Park Service will collaborate on several project objectives, including conducting field work at multiple meadows at MORA to collect plant and butterfly data, constructing plant phenophase profiles for common forbs, constructing butterfly emergence curves for commonly detected species, developing a...
Elevated anthropogenic nitrogen (N) emissions are causing higher rates of atmospheric N deposition (Ndep) that may saturate Cascade ecosystems with reactive N. Simultaneously, increasing global temperatures and altered circulation patterns generated by climate change are expected to strongly impact snow regimes in the Cascade Range, causing reduced snowpack, earlier snowmelt dates, and higher proportions of rain precipitation. Concern over the impacts of Ndep to sensitive, high-elevation ecosystems has prompted calls for research into its interaction with climate change and the effects of Ndep on ecosystem services. This is a collaborative project between the National Park Service and Washington State University...
The Coastal Engineering Inventory project aims to inventory, catalog and map coastal engineering projects in and adjacent to coastal units of the National Park Service (NPS). The goal is to develop a greater understanding of the extent of coastal engineering modification along our coast and provide information to allow resource managers to make better decisions about how to preserve NPS resources and allow for visitor use and recreation. This project will build upon an existing pilot study and GIS database that was completed for ten coastal parks. This collaborative project will expand the coastal engineering inventory to include an evaluation of coastal engineering impacts on NPS resources by developing a prioritized...
This is a collaborative project between the University of Oregon and the National Park Service (NPS) to identify potential climate change impacts (i.e., exposure and sensitivity) for cultural landscapes in the NPS Pacific West Region. This project will be conducted in multiple phases. Phase 1 will involve: 1) gathering climate change projections data, 2) identifying anticipated climate change impacts, 3) identifying character-defining features projected to be impacted, and 4) identifying stabilization measures to improve the resilience of those character-defining features to climate change phenomena (or climate trends). This project is a starting point in identifying the most vulnerable cultural landscapes in the...
Categories: Project; Tags: Other, US National Park Service
Wetland ecosystems are ecologically important components of park landscapes. Montane wetlands may be particularly vulnerable to changing climates. Responsible and effective park protection of these areas relies on accurate inventories of sites, a detailed understanding of ecosystem functions and hydrologic cycles, and projections of changes based on future climates. Currently, parks have incomplete baseline inventories of montane wetlands and only qualitative information on hydroperiods of wetlands. The goals of this collaborative project are to collect hydrologic data to support the development of models, to collect GPS data to improve delineations of wetland maps, and to use these data to improve model projecting...
This project will develop a flexible geographic information system (GIS)-based database (GIS-Hydroads) that can be integrated with a regional hydrologic model developed at the University of Washington (UW) to aid in decision making related to road infrastructure (initially culverts) associated with flooding risks under climate change. GIS-Hydroads will be designed in a modular fashion in collaboration with the National Park Service (and the US Forest Service), and be expandable with future technical capabilities and transferable throughout the western US. Proof-of-concept applications of GIS-Hydroads will be presented in a representative basin along the west slope of the North Cascade mountains of Washington, where...
This project involves the preparation of the climate chapters for the National Park Service (NPS) Natural Resources Condition Assessment (NRCA) for Mount Rainier National Park (MORA) and North Cascades National Park Complex (NOCA), and provides resources for the University of Washington (UW) Climate Impacts Group to analyze additional NPS and other weather station or snow course data and compare them to existing long term stations in the Historical Climate Network and the more dispersed cooperative weather network. These networks form the observations underlying spatial interpolation with historical climate data and downscaling of future global climate model projections, so putting these stations in the context...
The mountain parks of the North Coast and Cascades Network (NCCN) span a gradient of urban influence, and a west-east precipitation gradient. Because of these gradients, network parks and areas within may respond differently to certain stressors (e.g., atmospheric deposition of contaminants), while responding similarly to others (e.g., global climate change). This collaborative project with Central Washington University (CWU) involves continuation of long-term monitoring of precipitation chemistry in Mount Rainier National Park (MORA)), and the analysis of surface water samples, to better understand the relationship between natural processes and perturbations. By sampling on a continuous basis with consistent techniques,...
Investigators from UW and NPS staff will collaborate to accomplish the following specific objectives. The project will be conducted in two phases, and this Task Agreement funds both phases. Phase I- NRCA 1. Complete a NRCA for all the major habitats of the subalpine and upper elevation riparian preserve part of ORCA. The project will result in a park-specific report and spatial data that: a) describe park resources in a regional context; b) provide an interdisciplinary evaluation of current resource conditions and discernible trends; c) document critical data gaps and research needs; and d) document high-priority resource management issues. This NRCA will provide an evaluation of natural resource condition for approximately...
Lichen communities have been shown to be sensitive to changes in environmental pollution and climate change, making them good candidates for long-term monitoring of ecosystem conditions. Building upon prior efforts, a partnership among the National Park Service (NPS), the US Forest Service, and Oregon State University (OSU) has been formed to integrate existing lichen data across southwest, south-central, and southeast Alaska, and collaboratively develop and refine tools for monitoring climate change and air quality change. This project continues that partnership between NPS and OSU to conduct analyses and modeling of lichen communities for environmental monitoring purposes. Project objectives include developing...
The National Park Service and the University of Washington will collaborate in a project to estimate the current and near-future outburst flood potential from the Nisqually Glacier and associated downstream hazards along the Nisqually River and the Longmire work area. Recent survey data indicates that lower glacier ice velocities are slowing down to an alarming level. Stagnant ice is strongly associated with destructive summer j?kulhaups (glacier outburst floods). J?kulhaups usually turn into highly erosive and damaging debris flows, as they course down glacier-sourced rivers. They can produce flood peaks greatly in excess of floods from precipitation events. The only time Longmire, a major visitor and work center...
This is a collaborative project between UW and NPS to explore issues for cultural resource management based on spatially and temporally extensive problems such as climate change adaptation. In this project, an information needs assessment for climate change decision making will be conducted, and a process for using that information will be proposed that informs vulnerabilities and risk, and outlines an information system that enables flow between producers and users from multiple disciplines. The goal is to support cultural resource managers who must decide where to focus attention and resources to most effectively preserve our cultural heritage. The project will consist of information needs assessments, review...
Bumble bee pollinators provide invaluable ecosystem services to wild flowering plants. However, recent studies throughout the U.S. have documented range wide decline in bumble bee abundance and diversity. Bumble bee decline has been attributed to climate warming, pathogen outbreaks, and land-use change. In the wake of climate change, bumble bees are at high extinction risk considering their mostly alpine and temperate distribution. Recent surveys have documented changes in bumble bee abundance within some North Coast and Cascade Network (NCCN) Parks, including the disappearance of Bombus occidentalis from most of the Pacific Northwest. This is a collaborative study to provide information on the status of important...