Alpine habitat in the northeastern United States is limited in extent but contributes disproportionately to biodiversity in the region. Species in those habitats are increasingly at risk because of warming climates that reduce the area of those ecosystems and increase their isolation. In recent decades, little ecological research has been conducted on the plants and animals of alpine areas in New Hampshire, New York, Maine, and Vermont, and results of much of that research are not easily accessible. This project will assess current research on alpine ecosystems in the northeast US, increase awareness of research opportunities in those ecosystems, and establish a framework for cooperation and continued exchange of information among researchers working in those ecosystems and state and federal agencies responsible for managing those ecosystems. The intellectual merit of the project is that it will increase the amount and coordination of research in alpine ecosystems in the northeast US. This will also enable comparison of responses of other alpine ecosystems, many of which are facing similar climate warming related stresses. The broader impacts of the project will result primarily from the likely application of this research to land and resource managers in this region.
With the help of other scientists, I organized a workshop for people doing research in alpine ecosystems of northeastern North America. We invited ecologists, meteorologists, botanists, ecosystems scientists, conservation officials, soil scientists, herpetologists, geologists and others, and more than 40 scientists attended the 2-day workshop in Bretton Woods, N.H., in April 2011. One of the main purposes of the workshop was to improve communication among people who work in different disciplines but who are all studying various aspects of alpine ecosystems. A number of scientists made presentations during the workshop, and discussions were held about the most important research that needs to be done, especially considering that climate change is likely to affect alpine areas in ways that are difficult to predict. Discussions continued after the workshop, and a list of research priorities was developed and refined, which will be published. In addition to the particular research projects that participants supported, there was strong support for creation of a network of long-term monitoring sites, where plants, animals and environmental conditions all could be monitored using standard methods so future changes will be recognized. Workshop participants also strongly supported the creation of an organization to continue communication among alpine researchers in northeastern North America. Since the workshop, long-term monitoring sites have been set up in the mountains of the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec, and researchers are planning to create such monitoring sites in two other areas. In addition, several ecologists are collaborating in their alpine research for the first time, and a web site has been created to keep researchers informed about developments that could affect alpine ecosystems or research in those areas.
