Climatological data measured over the past 40 years at Niwot Ridge show that this temperate alpine site is undergoing directional change. Cooler, wetter conditions correlate with shifts in Plant community composition, reduced soil pH and modification of controls on nitrogen limitation to vegetation. While a number of future climatic scenarios are possible, enhanced precipitation in the alpine may continue the cooling trend due to increased albedo and evapotranspiration. This new research will therefore emphasize the influence of snowpack and precipitation on alpine ecosystem processes and patterns. The project group will identify and quantify mechanisms controlling the alpine ecosystem response to snowpack and precipitation and develop prediction models based on this knowledge. The research has four focal points: (1) watershed-level physical and biological processes affecting geochemical budgets; (2) plant and soil microbial processes, emphasizing organismic controls on nutrient allocation, pools and fluxes, photosynthesis and net primary production; (3) a hierarchical set of landscape analyses involving populations and communities of plants and animals and employing GIS and remote sensing techniques; and (4) paleoecological responses to changed snow conditions during recent centuries and millennia. All research areas use process-oriented models that provide analytical and predictive capabilities. Interfacing these models with GIS technologies will provide spatially explicit representation and provide a mechanism to scale relevant biophysical processes to regional levels.
