UC White Mountain Research Station brings GLORIA to the White Mountains Frank L. Powell1 John T. Smiley1 Daniel W. Pritchett1 Angela Jayko2 Ann Dennis3 Constance I. Millar4 Kathren E. Murrell5 In collaboration with the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station and the California Native Plant Society, the University of California White Mountain Research Station established GLORIA monitoring sites on four summits in the White Mountains of Eastern California in August 2004. The GLORIA (Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments: www.gloria.ac.at) project is a worldwide initiative to monitor climate effects on alpine peaks. The lower three GLORIA summits in the White Mountains consist of granitic rock, and range from 3240 m to 3975 m in elevation; the upper summit is metavolcanic rock on the shoulder of White Mountain Peak at 4285 m. For each summit we followed the GLORIA sampling design and recorded baseline data on plant species composition, cover, and frequency. Permanent monitoring plots were set up, and dataloggers installed to measure soil temperature. Measurements are to be repeated every five years in perpetuity. We also hope to establish a GLORIA “Master Site” in the White Mountains, in which the standard GLORIA protocol would be augmented with additional transects and sampling protocols, and with expanded scope to include animal taxa. For example, we hope to use modified protocols on a parallel summit transect on the Reed Dolomite (carbonate) substrate common in the White Mountains. We may also remeasure the GLORIA summits using alternative sampling protocols to facilitate comparison with other monitoring efforts. GLORIA Alpine Monitoring in the White Mountains, Eastern California Rationale for GLORIA Abundant data suggest the biosphere is undergoing rapid climate warming and change which may continue indefinitely. Ecosystems of the alpine life zone are thought to be particularly sensitive to warming because they are adapted to low temperature conditions. The alpine life zone is the only terrestrial biogeographic unit with a global distribution, and in many countries high mountain ecosystems have experienced less anthropogenic disturbance than those at lower elevations. For these reasons, the alpine zone presents a unique opportunity for monitoring and analyzing impacts of climate change on a global scale. There are currently 29 established GLORIA summit monitoring regions on 5 continents, with many more planned. The GLORIA protocol In each GLORIA region three or more summits are selected along an elevation gradient. They must have similar substrates and share as many other physiographic attributes as possible. The maps and photos to the right show the four GLORIA summit sites in the White Mountains. On each summit, plots are centered around a permanently marked “highest summit point.” Areas within 5 and 10 vertical m below summit point are marked as Upper and Lower summit areas, respectively. Upper and Lower summit areas are each divided into 4 aspect sections giving a grand total of 8 sections. Within each section, plant species are identified and percent cover estimated. For fine-scale sampling, four 3x3 m quadrat clusters are created, one in each cardinal direction. The four corner quadrats are sampled within each cluster using a decimeter grid. A temperature datalogger is buried 10 cm deep in each quadrat cluser to record hourly soil temperature. All data are submitted via the GLORIA website to a central database. 1 B 2 3 C 4 A D LEGEND 1: WMT GLORIA site (4285 m) 2: BAR GLORIA Site (3975 m) 3: RNA GLORIA site (3722 m) 4: SHF GLORIA site (3258 m) A: WMRS Summit Lab (4342 m) B: WMRS Barcroft Station (3801 m) C: WMRS Crooked Creek Station (3094 m) D: WMRS Owens Valley Lab (1252 m) A 1 B 2 3 C 4 View to the NW of the GLORIA summits region in the White Mountains. The distance from site 4 to site 1 is approximately 18 km. Upper summit area (within 5 vertical m of summit point) Lower summit area (between 5 and 10 vertical meters from summit point) Quadrat cluster This picture shows the SEupper and SElower sections. Species occurrences at the four GLORIA sites. The GLORIA summit ID codes and numbers in the table below locate the summits on the maps and photos to the right. Detailed analyses of occurrences with regard to aspect and elevation and comparisons with other summit areas are in progress. WMRS Crooked Creek Station (C) WMRS Summit lab (A) WMRS Barcroft Station (B) in winter View to Southeast from GLORIA site 1. GLORIA site 3 is visible in the middleground. 3 Researchers from the PSW Research Station and California Native Plant Society volunteers eat lunch at GLORIA site 2. GLORIA Site 1 is seen in background. 1 1White Mountain Research Station, Bishop, CA 2US Geological Survey, Bishop, CA 3CalFlora, 937 San Pablo Ave, Albany, CA 94706, 510-528-5426 4USDA Forest Service, PSW Research Station, Box 245, Berkeley, CA 94701 5University of California, Davis, CA