A Substantial Upward Shift Of The Alpine Treeline Ecotone In The Southern Canadian Rocky Mountains

Changes within and beyond the alpine treeline ecotone are hypothesized to respond to climatic changes and to be controlled by site-specific conditions. Repeated photographs show significant changes in the alpine treeline ecotone of Goodsir Pass in Kootenay National Park, B.C. over the past century. Field work revealed increases in tree density within the ecotone, and a 150 vertical metre increase in the elevation of the ecotone, at a rateof 2.2 metres/year. Change within the ecotone of Goodsir Pass is more closely related to temporal climatic variability than to site-specific spatial variability. Repeated photographs from three National Parks in the southern Canadian Rocky Mountains show this change to be a typical but dramatic example. Results at several scales indicate that the occurrence, magnitude and type of change in the alpine treeline ecotone and the drivers of that change are most influenced by the regional ecologic and geo-climatic setting or context.

The challenge is to restore our conception of humanity--to understand human flourishing in new ways--in an age in which humanity shapes the basic conditions of the global environment.

The object of this book is to highlight how the nascent field of sustainability science is addressing a key challenges for scientists; that is, understanding the workings of complex systems especially when humans are involved. A consistent thread in the sustainability science movement is the wide acknowledgement that greater degrees of integration across what are now segmented dimensions of extant Science and Technology systems will be a key factor in matching the most appropriate science and technology solutions to specific sustainability problems in specific places.

This book compiles available knowledge of the response of mountain ecosystems to recent climate and land use change and intends to bridge the gap between science, policy and the community concerned. The chapters present key concepts, major drivers and key processes of mountain response, providing transdisciplinary orientation to mountain studies incorporating experiences of academics, community leaders and policy-makers from developed and less developed countries. The book chapters are arranged in two sections. The first section concerns the response processes of mountain environments to climate change. This section addresses climate change itself (past, current and future changes of temperature and precipitation) and its impacts on the cryosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and human-environment systems. The second section focuses on the response processes of mountain environments to land use/land cover change. The case studies address effects of changing agriculture and pastoralism, forest/water resources management and urbanization processes, landscape management, and biodiversity conservation. The book is designed as an interdisciplinary publication which critically evaluates developments in mountains of the world with contributions from both social and natural sciences.

The Working Group II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides a comprehensive assessment of the scientific literature relevant to climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. The report recognizes the interactions of climate, ecosystems and biodiversity, and human societies, and integrates across the natural, ecological, social and economic sciences. It emphasizes how efforts in adaptation and in reducing greenhouse gas emissions can come together in a process called climate resilient development, which enables a liveable future for biodiversity and humankind. The IPCC is the leading body for assessing climate change science. IPCC reports are produced in comprehensive, objective and transparent ways, ensuring they reflect the full range of views in the scientific literature. Novel elements include focused topical assessments, and an atlas presenting observed climate change impacts and future risks from global to regional scales. Available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

The alpine treeline ecotone (ATE) is an area of transition high on mountains where closed canopy forests from lower elevations give way to the open alpine tundra and rocky expanses above. Alpine tundra is an island biome and its ecotone with forest is subject to change, and like oceanic islands, alpine tundra is subject to invasion – or the upward advance of treeline. The invasion of tundra by trees will have consequences for the tundra biome as invasion does for other island flora and fauna. To examine the invasibility of tundra we take a plant’s-eye-view, wherein the local conditions become extremely important. Among these local conditions, we find geomorphology to be exceptionally important. We concentrate on aspects of microtopography (and microgeomorphology) and microclimate because these are the factors that matter: from the plant’s-eye-view, but we pay attention to multiple scales. At coarse scales, snow avalanches and debris flows are widespread and create “disturbance treelines whose elevation is well below those controlled by climate. At medium scales, turf-banked terraces create tread-and-riser topography that is a difficult landscape for a tree seedling to survive upon because of exposure to wind, dryness, and impenetrable surfaces. At fine scales, turf exfoliation of the fronts of turf-banked risers, and boulders, offer microsites where tree seedlings may find shelter and are able to gain a foothold in the alpine tundra; conversely, however, surfaces of needle-ice pans and frost heaving associated with miniature patterned ground production are associated with sites inimical to seedling establishment or survival. We explicitly consider how local scale processes propagate across scales into landscape patterns. The objective of this book is to examine the controls on change at alpine treeline. All the papers are focused on work done in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. Although any one place is limiting, we are able to examine the alpine treeline here in some detail – and an advantage is that the treeline ecotone in Glacier National Park is quite variable in itself due to the underlying variability in geomorphology at multiple scales. This book will provide insights into an important ecological phenomenon with a distinctly geomorphic perspective. The editors collectively have over 100 years of experience in working in geomorphology, biogeography, and ecology. They also have each worked on research in Glacier National Park for several decades. The book will be a reference for a variety of professionals and students, both graduate and undergraduate, with interests in Physical Geography, Geomorphology, Ecology, and Environmental Science. Because of the importance of the alpine treeline ecotone for recreation and aesthetic interests in mountain environments, wildland and park managers will also use this book. * Subject matter: geomorphology at alpine treeline * Expertise of contributors: each editor brings over 25 years of experience in studies of ecotones and geomorphology, and collectively over 100 years of experience in Glacier National Park * Changing alpine treeline examines climate change

Ecological restoration is the process of repairing human damage to ecosystems. It involves reintroducing missing plants and animals, rebuilding soils, eliminating hazardous substances, ripping up roads, and returning natural processes such as fire and flooding to places that thrive on their regular occurrence. Thousands of restoration projects take place in North America every year. In Nature by Design, Eric Higgs argues that profound philosophical and cultural shifts accompany these projects. He explores the ethical and philosophical bases of restoration and the question of what constitutes good ecological restoration. Higgs explains how and why the restoration movement came about, where it fits into the array of approaches to human relationships with the land, and how it might be used to secure a sustainable future. Some environmental philosophers and activists worry that restoration will dilute preservation and conservation efforts and lead to an even deeper technological attitude toward nature. They ask whether even well-conceived restoration projects are in fact just expressions of human will. Higgs prefaces his responses to such concerns by distinguishing among several types of ecological restoration. He also describes a growing gulf between professionals and amateurs. Higgs finds much merit in criticism about technological restoration projects, which can cause more damage than they undo. These projects often ignore the fact that changing one thing in a complex system can change the whole system. For restoration projects to be successful, Higgs argues, people at the community level must be engaged. These focal restorations bring communities together, helping volunteers develop a dedication to place and encouraging democracy.

Forest managers can expect the unexpected and they can expect that change will be ongoing and unrelenting. Some general recommendations for beginning to address climate change in Canada's forest sector include enhancing the capacity to undertake integrated assessment of vulnerabilities to climate change at various scales; increasing resources to monitor the impacts of climate change; increasing resources for impacts and adaptation science; reviewing forest policies, forest planning, forest management approaches, and institutions to assess our ability to achieve social objectives under climate change; embedding principles of risk management and adaptive management into forest management; and maintaining or improving the capacity for communicating, networking, and information sharing with the Canadian public and within the forest sector."--Pub. website.