Climate Change

Networks and Parks Where Protocol Will Be Implemented

• Big Hole National Battlefield
• City of Rocks National Reserve
• Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve
• Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
• John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
• Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area
• Nez Perce National Historical Park
• Whitman Mission National Historic Site

Importance / Issues

• The American pika (Ochotona princeps) is increasingly vulnerable to accelerated climate change, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service initiated a status review in 2009 to determine if listing under the Endangered Species Act is warranted. A focused inventory of the species in Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve by the UCBN has provided compelling information to park managers that the species is increasingly vulnerable to extirpation.
• Accelerated global climate change may be the most far-reaching and consequential challenge facing our park natural resource managers.
• In National park units, we can monitor and document ecosystem change without many of the stressors that are found on other public lands. The UCBN is committed to tracking changes in park natural resources that may be influenced or caused by accelerated climate change, and all of our monitoring activities will contribute toward fulfilling this commitment.

Preliminary Monitoring Objectives

• Develop and implement a long-term monitoring protocol for the American pika (Ochotona princeps) at Craters of the Moon NM and Preserve.
• Collect continuous water temperature and water chemistry data to assess salmonoid habitat in wadeable UCBN streams.
• Develop and implement a long-term monitoring protocol for limber pine (Pinus flexilus) at Craters of the Moon NM and Preserve.
• Implement a long-term monitoring protocol for aspen (Populus tremuloides) at City of Rocks NR and Craters of the Moon NM and Preserve.
• Implement a long-term vegetation monitoring protocol for sagebrush steppe communities at City of Rocks NR, Craters of the Moon NM and Preserve, Hagerman Fossil Beds NM, John Day Fossil Beds NM, and Lake Roosevelt NRA.

In-depth Information: