Alpine and Subalpine Ecology Across Elevation and Climate Gradients
Explores how plant communities, soil conditions, and ecosystem function shift across elevational gradients in subalpine and alpine environments as climate change alters snowpack, temperature, and species composition.
Knowledge Graph (870 nodes, 3951 connections)
Research Primer
Background
Mountain ecosystems compress dramatic environmental change into short vertical distances. In the Gunnison Basin of Colorado, a hike of a few hundred meters up a ridge can cross differences in temperature, snowpack, growing season length, and soil development that would otherwise require hundreds of kilometers of latitudinal travel. Researchers exploit these elevational gradients — spatial transects along which temperature, snowmelt timing, and soil properties all change predictably — as natural experiments for understanding how alpine and subalpine communities are assembled and how they might respond to a warming climate. Because the high-elevation meadows, forests, and tundra around the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) are cold-limited and seasonally snow-covered, even small shifts in temperature or snowmelt date can reshuffle which species grow where, when they flower, and how they interact.
Several key concepts recur throughout this body of work. Community composition — the identity and relative abundance of species in a place — is shaped not only by climate but by biological interactions, including those with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and other fungal endophytes that live inside plant roots and leaves and influence nutrient uptake and stress tolerance. Plant functional groups (for example, forbs, grasses, and shrubs) group species by shared ecological strategies, and shifts among these groups — especially shrub encroachment, where woody plants expand into meadows — are important signals of ecosystem change. Phenology, particularly flowering time, is tightly tied to snowmelt date, making it a sensitive indicator of climate warming. At larger scales, ecologists use the species-area relationship (S = cA^z, where species richness scales with sampled area) and related tools from the maximum entropy theory of ecology to predict biodiversity patterns from small plots up to whole landscapes.
These ideas matter for the Gunnison Basin because its subalpine meadows, aspen groves, and alpine ridges provide forage for livestock and wildlife, store substantial soil carbon, support pollinators, and underpin the region's tourism and water supply. Understanding how warming, changing snow regimes, and altered species interactions propagate through these systems is essential for land managers anticipating shrub expansion, shifts in meadow productivity, and changes in wildflower displays.
Foundational work
Much of the modern experimental tradition at RMBL traces to a pioneering meadow-warming experiment begun in the early 1990s, in which overhead infrared radiators added a constant 15 W/m² of heat to subalpine meadow plots (Harte et al., 1995). This manipulation advanced snowmelt by roughly a week, raised summer soil temperatures by up to 3°C, and reduced soil moisture by as much as 25%, establishing a template for climate-warming experiments worldwide and providing a conceptual framework that others would adopt for interpreting ecosystem warming responses (Shaver et al., 2000). Subsequent work at the same site showed that warming advanced flowering by about 14 days, with early-flowering species such as Claytonia lanceolata most strongly affected, and demonstrated that snowmelt date was the single most important microclimatic driver of phenological change (Dunne et al., 2003).
Parallel foundational research expanded these insights to broader scales. Cross-biome syntheses showed that ecosystems converge to a common maximum rain-use efficiency under the driest conditions (Huxman et al., 2004), and mountain studies revealed that bacterial and plant diversity follow strikingly different elevational patterns: bacterial richness declined monotonically with elevation while plant richness peaked at mid-elevations (Bryant et al., 2008). On the theoretical side, the maximum entropy theory of ecology provided a unifying framework for predicting species-area curves, abundance distributions, and energetic patterns from a small number of community-level constraints (Harte et al., 2009; Harte & Newman, 2014) (Harte & Newman, 2014).
Key findings
Decades of experimental warming at RMBL and comparable sites have produced a consistent picture: warming advances snowmelt, dries soils, and reorganizes plant communities toward woodier, more conservative vegetation. A 23-year synthesis found that experimental warming advanced snowmelt by an average of 7.7 days and accelerated snowmelt by an additional half-day per year, linking these microclimate changes to shrub encroachment and transient soil carbon loss (convergent ecosystem responses, 2015). Drought- and warming-induced shifts from forbs to shrubs drove substantial soil carbon losses through declines in community productivity (shifts in plant dominance, 2006), and a 10-year heating experiment reduced soil organic matter by roughly 200 g C/m² (plant community composition mediates soil carbon, 2002). At the biome scale, community-level plant height has increased with warming across tundra sites, although other functional traits have lagged behind expected rates of change (Bjorkman et al., 2018), and tundra vegetation surveys confirm that these plot-scale changes are linked to recent summer warming (Elmendorf et al., 2012).
Belowground, the story is equally striking. Warming drying tends to reduce soil moisture across experiments, but the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration itself has remained largely unchanged, with a universal decline in sensitivity above 25°C (Carey et al., 2016). Global syntheses show that warming-induced soil carbon losses depend strongly on the size of initial carbon stocks, with high-latitude and high-elevation systems especially vulnerable (Crowther et al., 2016), though models and experiments still disagree on direction and magnitude (Sulman et al., 2018). Plant-fungal symbioses are central to these responses: fungal symbionts alter plant responses to nearly every global change factor except elevated CO₂, with arbuscular mycorrhizal and ectomycorrhizal fungi generally buffering plants most strongly (Kivlin et al., 2013). At RMBL, warming has been shown to cause local extinction of sensitive forbs such as Androsace septentrionalis by depressing fecundity and survival (climate warming drives local extinction, 2018), while species that persist often do so through compensatory growth by deeper-rooted neighbors (compensatory responses, 2007).
Warming also reshapes biotic interactions beyond symbioses. Herbivore attack on subalpine grasses increased by 13% and damage by 29% under experimental warming, with effects contingent on fine-scale weather (Lynn et al., 2023). Ant communities have shifted upslope over 13 years of natural climate change, with modern high-elevation assemblages resembling historical low-elevation ones (changes in ant community composition, 2014). Meanwhile, theoretical work has expanded the species-area relationship into a universal curve that lets ecologists upscale biodiversity estimates from small plots to entire landscapes (Harte et al., 2009) and predict regional arthropod richness from a handful of tiny census plots (inferring regional-scale species diversity, 2015).
Current frontier
Early work in the 1990s and 2000s focused on documenting whether and how warming changes montane plant communities. Research since 2020 has shifted toward mechanisms — especially the coupling between plants and their microbial partners — and toward whole-community responses along elevational gradients. A 2026 synthesis from long-running RMBL experiments shows that warming caused a 150% increase in shrub cover and roughly 28% declines in forbs and grasses, while mycorrhizal and septate root colonization both dropped 17–20%, effectively decoupling above- and belowground communities (Souza et al., 2026). A multi-site study spanning 2,000 km and 12°C of mean annual temperature found that warming reduced septate fungal colonization by 90% in leaves and 35% in roots, and weakened the coordination between fungal communities and plant metabolism (Edwards et al., 2025). A whole-community transplant experiment across a 400-meter elevation gradient revealed that soil bacteria and archaea respond fastest to warming, followed by fungi and then plants, hinting at emerging mismatches between partners that historically co-occurred (Seltzer, 2025).
Other recent work is expanding the taxonomic and ecological breadth of the neighborhood. Studies are examining the contributions of rare species to phylogenetic diversity in subalpine meadows (Veldhuisen et al., 2025), the role of hemiparasitic Castilleja in boosting plant species richness (Hastings, 2024; Lang, 2023) (Lang, 2023), and the distinct biodiversity signature of beaver-engineered wetlands (McDonough, 2024). At the same time, ecologists are finding that static macroecological theory increasingly fails in stressed alpine plant communities, with species-area and abundance patterns drifting from maximum entropy predictions over just six years (shifting macroecological patterns, 2021). Methodological advances — DNA metabarcoding of fungal communities, drone-based vegetation mapping, and reactive transport models linking biogeochemistry to hydrology (tracking diverse minerals, 2019) — are opening new windows on these changes.
Open questions
Several major uncertainties remain. How will decoupling of plant-fungal symbioses cascade through community assembly, nutrient cycling, and carbon storage over coming decades? Can process-based soil carbon models be reconciled with the wide range of observed responses in warming experiments (Sulman et al., 2018), and when do montane meadows switch from carbon sinks to carbon sources? Why do static macroecological theories increasingly fail in stressed alpine communities, and can these deviations themselves become useful early-warning indicators of ecosystem reorganization? How will shrub encroachment, shifting pollinator assemblages, and upslope movement of species interact to produce novel communities in the Gunnison Basin? Addressing these questions will require continued long-term experiments, integration of above- and belowground monitoring, and theoretical frameworks flexible enough to handle non-stationary, rapidly changing systems.
References
Bjorkman, A.D. et al. (2018). Plant functional trait change across a warming tundra biome. Nature. →
Bryant, J.A., Lamanna, C., Morlon, H., Kerkhoff, A.J., Enquist, B.J., Green, J.L. (2008). Microbes on mountainsides: contrasting elevational patterns of bacterial and plant diversity. PNAS. →
Carey, J.C. et al. (2016). Temperature response of soil respiration largely unaltered with experimental warming. PNAS. →
Changes in ant community composition caused by 20 years of experimental warming vs. 13 years of natural climate shift (2014). →
Climate Warming Drives Local Extinction: Evidence from Observation and Experimentation (2018). →
Compensatory responses to loss of warming-sensitive plant species (2007). →
Convergent ecosystem responses to 23-year ambient and manipulated warming (2015). →
Crowther, T.W. et al. (2016). Quantifying global soil carbon losses in response to warming. Nature. →
Dunne, J.A., Harte, J., Taylor, K.J. (2003). Subalpine meadow flowering phenology responses to climate change: integrating experimental and gradient methods. Ecological Monographs. →
Edwards, K.F. et al. (2025). Warming disrupts plant-fungal endophyte symbiosis more severely in leaves than roots. Global Change Biology. →
Elmendorf, S.C. et al. (2012). Plot-scale evidence of tundra vegetation change and links to recent summer warming. Nature Climate Change. →
Harte, J., Newman, E.A. (2014). Maximum information entropy: a foundation for ecological theory. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. →
Harte, J., Smith, A.B., Storch, D. (2009). Biodiversity scales from plots to biomes with a universal species-area curve. Ecology Letters. →
Harte, J., Torn, M.S., Chang, F.-R., Feifarek, B., Kinzig, A.P., Shaw, R., Shen, K. (1995). Global warming and soil microclimate: results from a meadow-warming experiment. Ecological Applications. →
Hastings, E. (2024). Getting to the Root of It: Effects of Castilleja Root Hemiparasitism on Plant Community Structure and Function. →
Huxman, T.E. et al. (2004). Convergence across biomes to a common rain-use efficiency. Nature. →
Inferring Regional-Scale Species Diversity from Small-Plot Censuses (2015). →
Kivlin, S.N., Emery, S.M., Rudgers, J.A. (2013). Fungal symbionts alter plant responses to global change. American Journal of Botany. →
Lang, A. (2023). Host specificity of hemiparasitic Castilleja and its influence on plant community diversity. →
Lynn, J.S. et al. (2023). Herbivory damage but not plant disease under experimental warming is dependent on weather for three subalpine grass species. Journal of Animal Ecology. →
McDonough, L. (2024). Environmental Variation and Vegetative Composition in Beaver Engineered Ecosystems. →
Plant community composition mediates both large transient decline and predicted long-term recovery of soil carbon under climate warming (2002). →
Seltzer, C. (2025). The impacts of environmental change on plant and microbial communities: A turf transplant experiment in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. →
Shaver, G.R. et al. (2000). Global warming and terrestrial ecosystems: a conceptual framework for analysis. BioScience. →
Shifting macroecological patterns and static theory failure in a stressed alpine plant community (2021). →
Shifts in plant dominance control short and long-term carbon-cycle responses to widespread drought (2006). →
Souza, L. et al. (2026). Experimental warming decouples plant-fungal symbiont interactions and leads to a more conservative ecosystem. PNAS. →
Sulman, B.N. et al. (2018). Multiple models and experiments underscore large uncertainty in soil carbon dynamics. Biogeochemistry. →
Tracking diverse minerals, hungry organisms, and dangerous contaminants using reactive transport models (2019). →
Veldhuisen, L. et al. (2025). Rare species do not disproportionately contribute to phylogenetic diversity in a subalpine plant community. American Journal of Botany. →
Concept (78) →
elevational gradients
Spatial gradients in elevation that capture variation in temperature, soil age and type, disturbance regimes, and land-use histories providing importa...
space use
Way in which individuals distribute themselves across landscape, including movement patterns and spatial organization like home range size and overlap
species diversity
A measure of community diversity that accounts for both species richness and relative abundance, calculated using the Shannon-Weiner index
nutritional niche partitioning
The concept that co-occurring species occupy distinct positions in multidimensional nutrient space to minimize competition and facilitate coexistence
keystone species
A species that has a disproportionately large effect on its environment relative to its abundance and whose presence/absence significantly affects eco...
arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
Fungal symbionts that form specialized structures (arbuscules, vesicles) within plant root cells and are important for nutrient exchange
Species-area relationship
The positive relationship between species richness and the surveyed area, described by the power-law S=cA^z where c is the intercept and z measures th...
permafrost
spatial clustering
Alpine plants growing in clumps with multiple species interacting in close proximity, affecting microhabitats and species interactions
shrub encroachment
Shift toward woody plant encroachment into nonwoody meadows and grasslands
Show 68 more concepts
trait filtering
Environmental processes that filter trait values admitted by changing abiotic and biotic conditions, maintaining trait distributions through phenotypi...
breeding ecology
The study of reproductive behaviors, nesting habitat selection, and breeding success in bird populations
chlorophyll content
SPAD measurement of leaf chlorophyll concentration indicating photosynthetic capacity
ecosystem engineering
The modification of environments by organisms in ways that influence resource availability for other species, exemplified by beaver dam construction c...
maximum entropy theory of ecology
Theory that predicts patterns of distribution, abundance, and energetics using instantaneous values of community state variables including total area,...
climate-ecosystem feedback
Ecosystem responses to climate change that exert positive or negative feedbacks on climate, mediated by slow-moving factors such as shifts in vegetati...
dark septate endophytes
A group of fungal endophytes characterized by dark-pigmented, septate hyphae that commonly colonize plant roots and can increase under environmental s...
root weight fraction
The ratio of dry root weight to total dry plant weight, used as an indicator of soil nutrient availability with higher values indicating nutrient-poor...
community composition
The identity and relative abundance of species within an ecological community
secondary cavity nesting
Bird species that utilize nest cavities created by other species rather than excavating their own
pollinator visual space
Mathematical models that represent how different pollinators perceive color based on their photoreceptor sensitivities and opponent color processing
plant functional groups
Classification of species with similar characteristics into plant functional groups or plant functional types to reduce complexity in ecological commu...
territoriality
Territorial behavior including alarm and warning calls to protect midden from squirrels and other mammals, with territories ranging from 0.5 to 1 hect...
indicator species
Taxa that are significantly associated with particular habitat conditions and can be used to assess ecosystem state or restoration success
climatic niche
The range of climate conditions that a species can tolerate, estimated from ecological niche models
metabolic rate distribution over individuals
Distribution of metabolic rates over individuals in a community, obtained by summing over abundance
hemiparasitism
Parasitic plants that retain absorptive roots and are capable of carbon fixation through photosynthesis but still need to draw some of their resources...
host specificity
The degree to which parasites show preference or restriction to particular host species rather than being generalist
plant acclimation
Physiological shifts that allow plants to adjust their rates of photosynthesis and stomatal conductance to compensate for changes in temperature
invasive species establishment
The process by which non-native species become established and spread in new environments
maximum entropy inference
Statistical inference procedure that selects flattest probability distributions compatible with constraints imposed by prior knowledge
phylogenetic diversity
A measure of the evolutionary history represented in an ecological community, calculated as the sum of branch lengths connecting species in a phylogen...
litter quality
Chemical composition of plant litter that determines its decomposability, typically characterized by C:N ratios and lignin content
ecotonal zones
Areas of transition between adjacent, distinct ecosystems with unique species assemblages at the fringes of mature stands
host-microbiome interactions
The relationship between a host organism and its associated microbial community, including costs and benefits to host fitness
behavioral ontogeny
information entropy
A quantitative measure of uncertainty about an outcome of a draw from a probability distribution
species accumulation curve
Plot showing cumulative number of species discovered as a function of sampling effort, used to assess sampling completeness
plant disease
Percentage of leaf area affected by pathogen symptoms including powdery mildew, rust, and other fungal diseases
pioneer species
Species best suited for the environment that make up most of the vegetation in early successional stages
mass ratio hypothesis
Species with greater primary production exert the main controls for the functioning of ecosystems due to greater aboveground abundance of biomass or l...
faunal elements
Biogeographic classification of species based on their broader distributional affinities and evolutionary origins
snow mosquitoes
Univoltine species which develop from overwintered eggs in pools formed by melting snow water
competitive release
Hypothesis that parasitism of dominant plant species reduces their competitive ability, allowing less competitive species to increase in abundance
electrolyte leakage
Loss of cellular electrolytes through compromised cell membranes, used as indicator of heat stress damage
ecological restoration
The process of managing or assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed as a means of sustaining ecosystem resi...
high-temperature tolerance
Ability of plants to survive exposure to elevated temperatures, measured as lethal temperature causing 50% electrolyte leakage (LT50)
herbarium collections
Preserved plant specimens that are picked in the field, pressed flat, dried and attached to archival-grade paper with relevant information recorded, t...
population decline
Reduction in population growth rates, size, or occurrence across species ranges
energy equivalence principle
The principle asserting an inverse relationship between local population density and average metabolic rate of individuals in a species
montane ecosystem
Mountain ecosystem characterized by specific elevation, climate, and vegetation adapted to montane conditions
soil sterilization
Experimental technique to remove soil microbial communities via autoclaving
local resource competition
Theory suggesting that offspring sex ratios might vary according to maternal condition, hence females should vary the sex of their offspring according...
ideal free distribution
Theory that animals distribute themselves among habitat patches in proportion to resource availability, with high-quality patches becoming occupied fi...
Fisher logseries distribution
A statistical distribution commonly observed in species abundance patterns, predicted by METE for undisturbed communities
distance-decay relationship
Decrease in compositional similarity between communities with increasing geographic distance or environmental separation
competitive exclusion
Competition between fungal groups for limited plant photosynthate allocation
internode length
The distance between branch whorls on conifers, used to measure annual growth
transplanting
Moving native plants from one location to establish them in a disturbed site as a revegetation technique
point count surveys
Standardized method for observing and counting birds at fixed locations for specified time periods
upscaling
Extrapolation of species richness estimates from small plots to larger spatial scales using theoretical scaling relationships
keystone species complex
Sapsucker-fungus partnership that strongly influences the avian community by providing nest sites
aspect effect
Differences in environmental conditions and species composition between north and south-facing slopes
Constant Connectance in Space model
Model developed to determine LARs based on SAR and simple properties of food webs including species richness, number of links and connectance
soil horizon
Distinct layers in soil profile with different physical and chemical properties
standardized effect size
A metric that compares observed values to null model expectations, calculated as (observed - expected) / standard deviation of null distribution
Gloger's rule
A relationship between plumage coloration and climate variation, predicting that darker coloration due to pigmentation occurred in warmer, more humid ...
theory compression
microbial biogeography
The study of spatial distribution patterns of microorganisms and the factors controlling these patterns
Relative Interaction Intensity
Standardized measure of interaction strength ranging from -1 to 1, where positive values indicate facilitation and negative values indicate competitio...
nearest neighbor analysis
Statistical method comparing species composition near target individuals to background composition to identify spatial associations
temperature lapse rate
The rate at which temperature decreases with elevation, typically expressed as degrees Celsius per kilometer
herbarium specimen collection bias
Systematic tendency for historical plant collectors to preferentially collect rare or uncommon species while avoiding common, dominant species
photo-inhibition
Reduction in photosynthetic efficiency due to excess light exposure
Dobzhansky-MacArthur hypothesis
Predicts that a species' high-elevation range limit is determined by harsh abiotic conditions whereas its low-elevation range limit is set by antagoni...
secondary sexual characteristics
Traits like crown-stripe width, plumage coloration, and song that require additional energy to maintain and signal mate quality
Simpson diversity
lambda
Protocol (64) →
quadrat sampling method
Measurement of plant species-specific cover, identification of focal species, and collection of plant biomass and functional traits including specific...
Specific Leaf Area (SLA)
Comprehensive measurement of vegetative traits including specific leaf area, trichome density, water use efficiency, and percent water content from fi...
5TE soil sensor monitoring
Continuous automated monitoring of soil temperature, moisture, and gas concentrations at multiple depths using sensor arrays. Provides high-resolution...
DNA metabarcoding
Surface sterilization of plant tissues followed by DNA extraction and high-throughput sequencing of the ITS region to characterize fungal endophyte co...
Holshof & Swenson trait sampling protocol
Systematic monitoring of plant disease dynamics across elevation gradient to capture environmental variation effects. Involves establishment of standa...
McGonigle method (Poaceae)
Microscopic assessment of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal colonization and other fungal colonization of plant roots using crosshair intercept method and...
Infrared heating manipulation
Infrared heaters suspended above experimental plots to simulate warming effects on montane vegetation communities across moisture gradients. Heating p...
HOBO sensor environmental monitoring
Continuous collection of local weather data at 5-minute intervals throughout growing seasons to capture fine-scale environmental variation affecting d...
RMBL warming experiment
29-year experimental warming using overhead infrared radiators to increase soil temperature by 2°C in subalpine grassland plots. Heat flux of 22 W/m² ...
reflectance spectrophotometry
Standardized measurement of floral reflectance spectra using fiber optic probe positioned at fixed distance and angle from flower surface. Spectra col...
Show 54 more protocols
Point count surveys
Systematic point count surveys conducted along an elevational gradient to assess current species distributions. Each site has four sampling points wit...
Li-Cor 6400 photosynthesis measurement
A novel approach to measure light response curves for entire plant communities rather than individual plants using tent-based gas exchange measurement...
Mantel test
Calculation of multiple phylogenetic diversity metrics for plant communities using established phylogenetic trees and null model approaches to test fo...
SPAD chlorophyll measurement
Measurement of chlorophyll fluorescence using LI-600 to assess photosynthetic efficiency by quantifying light emission from chlorophyll molecules exci...
MaxEnt SAR theory
Application of METE mathematical framework to predict species-area relationships and species-abundance distributions based on community state variable...
Alpine soil inocula collection and preparation
Collection of soil inocula from resident (high elevation) and novel (low elevation) sites across elevation gradients in mountain ecosystems, with subs...
soil incubation (Asteraceae)
Factorial greenhouse experiment testing effects of soil inoculum source and sterilization on alpine grass growth, traits, and fungal colonization. Pla...
Beaver pond habitat characterization
Multi-parameter assessment of beaver pond physical characteristics including area, depth, flow velocity, and beaver activity indicators to control for...
Nondestructive plant size measurement for biomass prediction (Asteraceae)
Systematic measurement of plant morphological characteristics (leaf number, leaf area, stalk count, etc.) before plant extraction to develop predictiv...
Subalpine plant community energetics census
Complete census of all individual plants in gridded plots with spatial mapping, tissue sampling, and photosynthetic area measurement for metabolic rat...
Historical herbarium database analysis for biographical reconstruction
Method for extracting and analyzing historical herbarium specimen data to reconstruct the life and career patterns of past collectors, including tempo...
species-area relationship
Nested sampling design to construct species-area relationships across multiple spatial scales by subdividing plots into equal-area quadrats and averag...
Elevational fungal transplant experiment (Poaceae)
A controlled field experiment transplanting grass species across elevational gradients with manipulated fungal soil communities to test effects of pla...
percent cover estimation
Long-term monitoring of tundra plant communities using standardized sampling within permanently marked study areas, employing various abundance quanti...
community-weighted mean
Multivariate analysis technique to quantify community responses over time. Treatment weights indicate response magnitude and species weights show indi...
destructive biomass sampling
Complete excavation of plants followed by separation into above-ground, below-ground, and reproductive components, with subsequent drying and weighing...
Elevation gradient flower spectrophotometry
Systematic collection and spectrophotometric analysis of flowers across elevation gradients to quantify color variation. Targets pollinator-visible fl...
Reciprocal transplant germination experiment
Field experiment testing seed germination of different genotypes/treatments in natural microhabitats of related species to assess niche requirements a...
Grid-based root presence-absence quantification from soil pit photographs (Plantae)
Photographs of soil pit faces are overlaid with 1×1 cm grids to systematically score presence or absence of fine and coarse roots in each grid cell, p...
gravimetric soil moisture analysis
Standard gravimetric determination of soil moisture content using oven-drying method at 100°C for 24 hours with 2mm sieving to remove rocks and organi...
GIS polygon digitization
Using ArcGIS to digitize habitat polygons and generate random sampling points within appropriate community types.
Plant specimen collection and identification
Pressing and identification of plant voucher specimens using standard botanical keys and herbarium references.
Potter trap
Standard bird capture protocol using Potter's traps baited with seed, followed by individual banding and morphological measurements for population mon...
CDC light trap sampling (Culicidae)
Opportunistic collection of adult and larval mosquitoes across elevational gradients using standardized collection techniques. Adults collected during...
Endophyte removal using Benomyl fungicide (Poaceae)
Seeds were treated with Benomyl fungicide at 4°C to remove endophytic fungi, creating endophyte-free plants for comparison with naturally endophyte-po...
Adult mosquito collection and identification (Culicidae)
Collection of adult mosquitoes during blood-seeking behavior and other activities to complement larval surveys and confirm species identifications.
Diurnal thermal videography of plant communities
Continuous infrared thermal imaging of vegetation plots at 5-second intervals from sunrise to sunset using elevated FLIR cameras to capture leaf tempe...
NRCS soil characterization methods (Plantae)
Random plot establishment along elevational gradients followed by soil coring and root extraction to quantify coarse and fine root biomass allocation ...
Paired plot community comparison (Orobanchaceae)
Vegetation composition and diversity are compared between paired 1m² plots with and without Castilleja presence to assess community-level effects of p...
Habitat-damage correlation analysis (Aves)
Quantitative analysis of the relationship between sapsucker damage patterns on aspen trees and proximity to willow habitat, using distance measurement...
Cavity nest site characterization (Aves)
Comprehensive measurement of nest tree characteristics and landscape context including tree size, nest height, cavity orientation, and distances to ke...
Successional stage soil sampling across landslide chronosequence
Systematic sampling of soil from different plant successional stages within a landslide area to compare soil properties across a chronosequence. Uses ...
Electrolyte leakage assay (Asteraceae)
Controlled temperature treatments from 15-65°C applied to detached leaves for 1 hour, with temperature ramped at 2°C/hour. Used to determine lethal te...
U.S. Geological Survey sediment preparation procedures
Extraction of iron and manganese from sediments using 0.5 N HCl with hydroxylamine hydrochloride in anaerobic conditions, followed by ICP-AES analysis...
Nearest neighbor host detection analysis (Orobanchaceae)
Plant species composition within 15cm of Castilleja individuals is compared to random background vegetation to statistically identify overrepresented ...
GIS-based riparian proximity measurement (Picidae)
Measurement of distances from bird survey points to nearest riparian features using aerial photography, field measurements, and GIS analysis to quanti...
Species-area curve analysis
Systematic sampling of lichen cover and species composition along fixed 1-meter transects on rock surfaces, with digital photography and image analysi...
song playback experiment (Passeridae)
Systematic presentation of conspecific, heterospecific competitor, and control songs to territorial males followed by standardized behavioral observat...
oven-dry biomass determination
Standardized protocol for determining dry mass of plant tissues through controlled oven drying at 60°C for 48 hours followed by precision weighing to ...
Grid-based topographic measurement
Systematic measurement of slope and aspect at grid cell centers using compass and clinometer with clipboard to minimize micro-scale surface variation ...
bird banding (Passerellidae)
Standard measurements of bird morphology including wing chord, tail length, tarsus length, and body condition assessment. Birds banded with color comb...
Riparian willow structural complexity assessment (Parulidae)
Combined vertical (Robel pole) and horizontal (line intercept) measurements to quantify willow habitat structural complexity including height diversit...
Shannon Diversity Index
Calculation of Shannon diversity index (ln type) and Simpson dominance index (1-D) from species count data using online biodiversity calculator. Stand...
Elevational gradient soil and seed sampling (Fabaceae)
Systematic collection of soils and seeds across elevational gradients spanning current and projected future species ranges to capture natural variatio...
Castilleja haustorial connection microscopy (Orobanchaceae)
Root systems around Castilleja plants are excavated, cleaned, and examined microscopically to identify haustorium-host connections for direct detectio...
LC-MS plant metabolomics (Poaceae)
Extraction of plant metabolites using methanol/acetonitrile/water solvent followed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. Characterizes ...
pavo visual modeling
Conversion of reflectance spectra into bee and bird visual spaces using established photoreceptor sensitivity models. Uses color hexagon model for bee...
Lichen field identification
Field identification of lichen species using chemical spot tests with potassium hydroxide, morphological examination with hand lens, and comparison to...
Multi-model soil carbon simulation
Comparative simulation study using five different soil organic carbon models (DAYCENT, CORPSE, MIMICS, MEND, RESOM) to project responses to warming an...
Rolatape transect gopher disturbance survey
Systematic survey of pocket gopher soil disturbances (eskers, mounds) along standardized transects using rolatape measuring wheels with perpendicular ...
Systematic grid mapping of sagebrush populations (Asteraceae)
Complete census of sagebrush individuals within systematic 16m × 16m grids divided into 1m² cells, with measurement of plant dimensions for size estim...
Ion exchange resin strips
Mixed-bed ion-exchange resin bags deployed at 5 cm soil depth to assess NO3-N and NH4-N availability. Resins are extracted with KCl and analyzed using...
IUCN Red List Area of Occupancy calculation
Calculation of species area of occupancy (AOO) using filtered GBIF occurrence records and standardized grid-based methods following IUCN guidelines fo...
Length-mass relationship conversion
Estimation of invertebrate biomass using established taxon-specific length-mass relationships and scaling to aerial measures.
Stakeholder (3)
American Farmland Trust
Sonoran Institute
Gunnison County Assessor's Office
Publication (211) →
Winters are changing: snow effects on Arctic and alpine tundra ecosystems
The structure and function of subalpine ecosystems in the face of climate change
Ecosystem responses to warming-induced plant species loss and increased nitrogen availability in a Rocky Mountain subalpine meadow
Plant functional trait change across a warming tundra biome
Productivity of Montane Meadows in a Warming World: Evidence from an Elevation Gradient and a Warming Experiment
Global warming and soil microclimate: results from a meadow-warming experiment
DynaMETE: a hybrid MaxEnt-plus-mechanism theory of dynamic macroecology
Subalpine meadow flowering phenology responses to climate change: integrating experimental and gradient methods
Plot-scale evidence of tundra vegetation change and links to recent summer warming
Convergent ecosystem responses to 23-year ambient and manipulated warming link advancing snowmelt and shrub encroachment to transient and long-term climate–soil carbon feedback
Show 201 more publications
Quantifying global soil carbon losses in response to warming
On theory in ecology
Experimental warming decouples plant-fungal symbiont interactions and leads to a more conservative ecosystem
Plant community composition mediates both large transient decline and predicted long-term recovery of soil carbon under climate warming
Global assessment of experimental Climate warming on tundra vegetation: heterogeneity over space and time
Plant responses to experimental warming in a montane meadow
Integrating experimental and gradient methods in ecological climate change research
Microbes on mountainsides: contrasting elevational patterns of bacterial and plant diversity
Biodiversity scales from plots to biomes with a universal species-area curve
Climate Warming Drives Local Extinction: Evidence from Observation and Experimentation
Responses of high-altitude graminoids and fungal fungi to 20 years of experimental warming
King of the hill? How biotic interactions affect biogeographical pattern and species responses to climate change
Fungal symbionts alter plant responses to global change
Response of plant pathogens and herbivores to a warming experiment
Altitudinal gradients fail to predict fungal symbiont responses to warming
Effects of long-term experimental warming on aphid density in the field
The effect of experimental ecosystem warming on CO2 fluxes in a montane meadow
Warming disrupts plant–fungal endophyte symbiosis more severely in leaves than roots
Reproductive and physiological responses to simulated climate warming for four subalpine species
Shifting macroecological patterns and static theory failure in a stressed alpine plant community
Shifts in plant dominance control short and long-term carbon-cycle responses to widespread drought
The Effect of Climate Change on Soil Organic Carbon over an Elevational Gradient
Compensatory responses to loss of warming-sensitive plant species
Propagating climate and vegetation change through the hydrologic cycle in a mountain headwaters catchment.
Changes in ant community composition caused by 20 years of experimental warming vs.13 years of natural climate shift
Enhanced growth of sagebrush (<i>Artemisia tridentata</i>) in response to manipulated ecosystem warming
<i>In situ</i> photosynthetic freezing tolerance for plants exposed to a global warming manipulation in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, USA
Photosynthetic responses to a climate-warming manipulation for contrasting meadow species in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, USA
Subalpine forest carbon cycling: Short- and long-term influence of climate and species
Herbivory damage but not plant disease under experimental warming is dependent on weather for three subalpine grass species
Context dependent biotic interactions control plant abundance across altitudinal environmental gradients
Plant Identity Influences Foliar Fungal Symbionts More Than Elevation in the Colorado Rocky Mountains
Rare species do not disproportionately contribute to phylogenetic diversity in a subalpine plant community
An equation of state unifies diversity, productivity, abundance and biomass
An Endophyte alters biological characteristics of the grass, Festuca thurberi.
Effects of climate change on growth and seedling establishment of young lodgepole pine
An altitudinal cline in UV floral pattern corresponds with a behavioral change of a generalist pollinator assemblage
Traditional plant functional groups explain variation in economic but not size related traits across the tundra biome
High-temperature tolerance of <i>Artemisia tridentata</i> and <i>Potentilla gracilis</i> under a climate change manipulation
Experimental examination of early snowmelt-induced water stress in Helianthella quinquenervis: effects on demographic vital rates
Multiple models and experiments underscore large uncertainty in soil carbon dynamics
Exploring the impact of climate change on soil carbon storage in montane meadows
Integrating macroecological metrics and community taxonomic structure
Pocket gopher (<i>Thomomys talpoides</i>) soil disturbance peaks at mid-elevation and is associated with air temperature, forb cover, and plant diversity
Control of litter decomposition in a subalpine meadow-sagebrush steppe ecotone under climate change
Maximum information entropy: a foundation for ecological theory
Convergence across biomes to a common rain-use efficiency
Soil microbes that may accompany climate warming increase alpine plant production
Consistent shifts in pollinator-relevant floral coloration along a Rocky Mountain elevation gradient
The Changing Floral Color Landscape Across an Alpine Elevation Gradient
Biogeography of plant-associated fungal symbionts in mountain ecosystems: A meta-analysis
Revisiting Darwin's hypothesis: Does greater intraspecific variability increase species' ecological breadth?
Intraspecific Variation in Responses of a Montane Grass, <i> Festuca thurberi </i>, to Simulated Biological Invasion
Sixty-five years of change in montane plant communities in Western Colorado, USA
Controls on radial growth of mountain big sagebrush and implications for climate change
The effects of Castilleja miniata's parasitic relationship with Delphinium nuttallianum on pollinator visitation and pollination success
Taxon Categories and the Universal Species-Area Relationship
Testing the maximum entropy theory of ecology in the warming meadow
Environmental forces drive morphological variation in an alpine annual plant
Assessing Two Plant Leaf Functional Traits across a Temperature Gradient
Plant dominance in a subalpine montane meadow: biotic vs. abiotic controls of subordinate diversity within and across sites
Response of nitrogen cycling to simulated climate change: differential responses along a subalpine ecotone
The responses of montane shrubs to spatial and temporal climate variation in
How do above and belowground grass-fungus symbioses change over elevational gradients in mountainous Colorado?
Temperature response of soil respiration largely unaltered with experimental warming
Real and experimental ecosystem warming: interacting effects on snowmelt, plant community composition and carbon storage in a Rocky Mountain subalpine meadow
The Direct and Interactive Effects of Warming and Species Interaction on Plant Functional Traits
Testing the predictions of the Maximum Information Entropy Theory for abundance and energy distributions on the Gothic earthflow
Ecosystems impacts of climate change: snowmelt timing, species diversity, and plant productivity
Mountain mosquitoes of the Gothic, Colorado area
Estimating species-area relationships from plot to landscape scale using species spatial-turnover data
Inferring Regional-Scale Species Diversity from Small-Plot Censuses
The impact of elevational gradients on dark septate endophytes (DSE) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in mountains
Empirical tests of withinâ€and acrossâ€species energetics in a diverse plant community
How do Plant Traits Affect Thermoregulation?
A test of species-area theory on a high disturbance area of the Gothic earthflow
Effects of water addition on above- and below-ground processes in montane meadows
Can fungal symbionts shift host niche dimensions to promote species coexistence?
Devising an ageing technique for <i>Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana</i> near Crested Butte, Colorado
Double keystone bird in a keystone species complex
Estimating species richness at large spatial scales using data from discrete plots
Nest site selection by a secondary cavity-nesting species, the mountain bluebird
Floral pigmentation patterns provide an example of Gloger’s rule in plants
Intraspecific trait variation affects community distributions of alpine meadow plant communities
The effects of hemiparasitism by <i> Castilleja</i> spp on community structure in alpine ecosystems
Effects of experimental warming on herbivory and pathogen loads on subalpine grass species Festuca thurberi, Poa pratensis, and Achnatherum lettermanii
Aboveground and belowground traits of dominant and sub-dominant species along an elevational gradient.
The Effects of Ants on Ecosystem Dynamics: Investigating the Ecological Influence of Ant Nests in the Rocky Mountains
The impacts of environmental change on plant and microbial communities: A turf transplant experiment in the Colorado Rocky Mountains
Pocket gopher activity across elevation gradients.
Mix and Match: Transplanting symbiotic fungal partners across elevational gradients to gauge responses in migrating Elymus hosts
Plant Successional Changes Over 67 Years on the Gothic Earthflow.
Identifying the Impact of Biotic Interactions on Meadow Species Distributions in Sagebrush and Bunchgrass Dominated Systems
Plant succession on a subalpine earthflow in Colorado
Willow branch selection by the red-naped sapsucker (<i>Sphyrapicus nuchalis</i>): The effects of branch characteristics on foraging behavior in Gothic, CO
Range-wide study in a sexually polymorphic wild strawberry reveals climatic and soil associations of sex ratio, sexual dimorphism and sex chromosomes
The effect of climate change on the germination and growth rates of young subalpine fir (<i>Abies lasiocarpa</i>)
Does nutrient enrichment interact with <i>Castilleja miniata</i> to alter plant communities in montane meadows?
The effects of plant succession and ant nest on soil organic matter and soil moisture
An Epichloe endophyte alters the ecology of Poa leptocoma.
Getting to the Root of It: Effects of Castilleja Root Hemiparasitism on Plant Community Structure and Function
Red-naped Sapsucker nest tree selection and effects on the willow breeding bird community
Factors influencing floral traits in Rocky Mountain meadows: competition, environmental filtering, and phylogeny
Tracing phenology trends in time and space using herbarium data and citizen science observations in western Colorado
Can fungal symbionts shift host niche dimensions to promote species coexistence?
Effects of proximity to riparian zones on avian species richness and abundance in montane aspen woodlands.
Metabolic Partitioning across Individuals in Ecological Communities
Defensive strategy to nectar robbing in <i></i>Ipomopsis aggregata:<i></i> floral nectar as a tolerance trait
The effect of sampling effort on species richness estimates of flower visitors
Intraspecific variation of specific leaf area along an elevational gradient
A Brief Escape to Normalcy: A Summer at RMBL
The response of four subalpine forbs to supplemental nitrogen within different soil moisture environments
The future of plant-fungal symbioses along elevational gradients
Attributes of mountain bluebird cavity nests
Competitive hierarchy or niche packing? An examination of the effects of competition on community.
Plant community composition with respect to species richness along an altitudinal gradient in gunnison county, co
Species richness along an elevational gradient
The impacts of long term warming on potential soil microbial activity across soil depth
How do distributions of belowground grass-fungal symbioses change over altitudinal gradients in the Colorado Rocky Mountains?
Tracking diverse minerals, hungry organisms, and dangerous contaminants using reactive transport models
Surveying historical patterns in vegetation change (1929-2019) in the upper East River Valley using RMBL's archival herbarium records
Global warming and terrestrial ecosystems: a conceptual framework for analysis
A Comparative Analysis of Saxicolous Lichen Diversity and Cover along an Elevation Gradient on Talus Slopes in Gunnison National Forest to Infer Possible Climate Change Effects
Climate change and extinction risk
Variation in root morphology and allocation of <i>Androsace septentrionalis</i> along a natural elevation/climate gradient
Patterns of biodiversity in sub-alpine wetlands
The effects of climate change on subalpine fir (<i></i>Abies lasiocarpa<i></i>) sapling growth and establishment success across an elevational gradient
Insight from Integration
Phenology of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal fungi and Dark Septate Endophytes across an elevation gradient.
Behavioral response of Mountain White-Crowned Sparrows towards an interspecific competitor
Effects of water addition on below- and above-ground carbon processes across a montane elevational gradient
Intraspecific flower color variation along elevation gradients
How does experimental warming effect the rate of herbivory and fungi on host grasses?
Intraspecific signaling function of Crown Coloration in Mountain White-Crowned Sparrows
What sexual diversity in the natural world can teach humans about sex, gender, and inclusive biology
Plant size influences mycorrhizal colonization of <i>Polemonium foliosissimum</i>
Scale collapse and the emergence of the power law species–area relationship
Changes in water relations for leaves exposed to a climate-warming manipulation in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado
Impacts of the invasive species <i> Linaria vulgaris </i> on soil ecology and native plant biodiversity
Dead wood biomass and turnover time, measured by radiocarbon, along a subalpine elevation gradient
Responses of subalpine meadow vegetation to four years of experimental warming
Dormancy rates in microbial communities across an elevational gradient
Dispersal, phenology and habitat preference of subalpine whirligig beetles (Coleoptera: Gyrinidae: Gyrinus)
On the spatial distribution and abundance of herbaceous plants in aspen and conifer forest understories: a test of neutral/statistical versus niche-based theories?
How do riparian songbirds (Passerines) coexist? Effects of vegetative structural complexity on habitat selection in willow (<i>Salix</i> spp.)
The Gothic earthflow revisited: a chronosequence examination of colonization on a subalpine earthflow
Influence of patch area on bird species diversity in coniferous forests
Climate change and anti-herbivory resistance communication in <i>Artemisia tridentata</i>
Understanding Organismal Capacity to Respond to Anthropogenic Change: Barriers and Solutions
A mutualistic endophyte alters the niche dimensions of its host plant
Moss and vascular plant cover across elevational gradients in a changing alpine climate
Talus turnover: A study of the distribution of lichens along elevational gradients
On the implications of species-area relationships for endemism, spatial turnover, and food web patterns
Won't you be my neighbor: neighborhood effect influences mycorrhizal and endophyte colonization
Legacy effects and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi of Linaria vulgaris invasion in Colorado and Illinois, USA
Gas exhange and water relations of two Rocky Mountain shrub species exposed to a climate change manipulation
Trap behavior of <i> Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha </i> at different elevations in the West Elk Mountains, Colorado
Factors that affect territory size in Mountain White-Crowned Sparrows (<i>Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha</i>)
Changes in mosquito community of Gunnison County since 1966
Ant presences alter plants: The impact <i>Formica obscuripes</i> presence on plants and soil micro-anthropod diversity
Habitat patch use, density, and territoriality of American Red Squirrels (<i>Tamiasciurus hudsonicus</i>) in the southwestern Rocky Mountains, Colorado
Environmental Variation and Vegetative Composition in Beaver Engineered Ecosystems
Determining Long-Term Success of Revegetation Efforts in Disturbed Sites
What determines the distribution of red-naped sapsuckers in the East River Valley?
Revegetation after disturbance in high-altitude meadow ecosystems
Biotic and abiotic effects on ant community structure
Dichotomous key to the members of the onagraceae family found in the gothic area
the influence of red-naped sapsuckers on willow bird communities
Experimental test of the ability of plants to regulate their temperatures under climate change: Using transplanted communities, thermal imaging, and arcGIS across an elevation gradient
Investigating the air temperatures of different taxa in an alpine plant community
Predictors and Strength of Microclimate Buffering in the Gunnison Valley
The effects of elevation and climate on butterfly (<i>Lepidoptera</i>) abundance and activity
Understanding how leaf endophytes are affected by climate change: Examining fungi in grass species with warming
Effects of Altitude on the Growth, Mortality, and Recruitment of Subalpine Tree Species in the West Elk Mountains of Colorado.
Investigating the comparison between bird diversity and apex aquatic predators in sub-alpine beaver ponds
Host effects on herbivory and pollination in a hemiparasitic plant
Carbon Cycle Uncertainty Increases Climate Change Risks and Mitigation Challenges
Possible influence of altitude, geographical distance between sites and annual precipitation rates on species richness
Aspen heart rot fungus (<i>Phellinus tremulae</i>) distribution in aspen forests in relation to open meadows: implications for red-naped sapsucker (<i>Sphyrapicus nuchalis</i>) nesting habitat
Building up Biogeography: Pattern to Process
Effect of Rock Size, Age, and Distance on the Biodiversity of Lower Copper Creek Area Lichens: A Test of the Theory of Island Biogeography
Land Use and Landscape Change in the Colorado Mountains II: A Case Study of the East River Valley
Host specificity of hemiparasitic Castilleja and its influence on plant community diversity.
Effects of Alpine Shrub Cover on Territorial Male White-Crown Sparrows Densities.
Does a foliar endophyte improve plant fitness under flooding?
Species coexistence in a food web with intraguild predation
Avian Diversity in Aspen and Conifer Forests :
Untangling multiple factors in spatial distributions: Lilies, gophers, and rocks
Comparison of Arthropod Diversity between Perennial Shrub versus Evergreen Tree Habitats at Sites Near Gothic, CO
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ASPEN HEARTWOOD ROT AND THE LOCATION OF CAVITY EXCAVATION BY A PRIMARY CAVITY-NESTER, THE RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER
Effects of manipulated soil microclimate on mesofaunal biomass and diversity
Population dynamics and competitive outcome derive from resource allocation statistics: the governing influence of the distinguishability of individuals
The shape of a species\\\' spatial abundance distribution
Acidification and salamander recruitment
Non-random orientation of entrance holes to woodpecker nests in aspen trees
The responses of lake waters to organic matter additions.
Toward a synthesis of the Newtonian and Darwinian worldviews
Visitors to Red-Naped Sapsucker sap wells and the effectiveness of artificial wells
Habitat of Pocket Gophers in Cochetopa Creek Drainage, Colorado
Moisture Relationships in Twelve Northern Desert Shrub Communities Near Grand Junction, Colorado
Can montane landscapes recover from human disturbance? Long-term evidence from disturbed subalpine communities
Dataset (26) →
NEON AOP Survey of Upper East River CO Watersheds: Waveform LiDAR Binary Data
The waveform Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data in this package were generated through a National Ecological Observatory Network Airborne Observ...
Range size and local abundance data for angiosperm communities across an elevation gradient, Rocky Mountain Biological Lab, 2021-2022
This dataset contains abundance and range size data for angiosperm communities at three sites in Washington Gulch near the Rocky Mountain Biological L...
Data from: 'Abiotic influences on continuous conifer forest structure across a subalpine watershed'
This package archives the core data used for analysis and inference in 'Abiotic influences on continuous conifer forest structure across a subalpine w...
Data for Context-dependent biotic interactions control plant abundance across altitudinal environmental gradients, 2014, 2016, Colorado, USA
Many biotic interactions influence community structure, yet most distribution models for plants have focused on plant competition or used only abiotic...
Langenheim Plant Species Data (1953) and Associated Resurvey Datasets (2014), Gunnison Basin, Colorado, USA
Quantitative plant abundance data were collected from the same 121 sites at two time periods separated by 65 years (1948-1952 and 2012-2014) in the Co...
Data for 'Weak latitudinal gradients in insect herbivory for dominant rangeland grasses of North America'
Patterns of insect herbivory may follow predictable geographical gradients, with greater herbivory at low latitudes. However, biogeographic studies of...
Data for Context-dependent biotic interactions control plant abundance across altitudinal environmental gradients, 2014, 2016, Colorado, USA.
Many biotic interactions influence community structure, yet most distribution models for plants have focused on plant competition or used only abiotic...
Mammalian herbivores restrict the altitudinal range limits of three alpine grass species
Though rarely experimentally tested, biotic interactions have long been hypothesized to limit low-elevation range boundaries of species. We tested t...
Data for Lynn et al. “Soil microbes that may accompany climate warming increase alpine plant production”
Climate change is causing species with non-overlapping ranges to come in contact, and a key challenge is to predict the consequences of such species r...
An Equation of State Unifies Diversity, Productivity, Abundance and Biomass (data sets)
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Show 16 more datasets
Plant composition data from 67 grassland sites of the Upper Gunnison Basin, CO, USA, 2014
Here, we deposit data from a vegetation survey conducted in 2014. The data was collected to document current vegetation patterns in the region, parame...
Langenheim Plant Species Data (1953) and Associated Resurvey Datasets (2014), Gunnison Basin, Colorado, USA
Quantitative plant abundance data were collected from the same 121 sites at two time periods separated by 65 years (1948-1952 and 2012-2014) in the Co...
Annually collected demography data from an alpine plant community on Mt. Baldy, Colorado (38.978725°N, 107.042104°W, ~3540 masl).
Description: Annual demography dataset for an alpine plant community in Colorado. This file updates previous years of data for this project posted to ...
Appendix A. List of the graminoid species in the experimental warming meadow, Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Gunnison County, Colorado, USA.
List of the graminoid species in the experimental warming meadow, Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Gunnison County, Colorado, USA.
Pocket gopher (<i>Thomomys talpoides</i>) soil disturbance peaks at mid-elevation and is associated with air temperature, forb cover, and plant diversity
Burrowing mammals can be ecosystem engineers by increasing soil aeration and erosion and altering the structure of plant communities. Studies that cha...
Data for “Herbivory damage but not plant disease under experimental warming is dependent on weather for three subalpine grass species”, Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Gothic, Colorado, 2015-2017.
[object Object]
1 m Resolution Multiscale Height-above-stream Wetness Index for the Upper Gunnison Domain
<p>This map is a soil moisture proxy derived from analysis of the UG 1m hydrologically corrected digital elevation model. The intuition behind this ma...
Biomass Inventories at Harvard Forest EMS Tower since 1993
In 1993, we installed 40 circular, 10 m radius biometric plots in the footprint of the EMS tower on Prospect Hill. We randomly placed the plots within...
Forage Resources in Warming and Removal Plots, Almont, CO, 2019
This is data collected to explore the impacts of warming and dominant species removal on the quantity and quality of plants for cattle foraging. The d...
Forage Resources in Warming and Removal Plots, Almont, CO, 2019
This is data collected to explore the impacts of warming and dominant species removal on the quantity and quality of plants for cattle foraging. The d...
Supplemental Tables for "Phylogenetic patterns over sixty-five years of vegetation change across a montane elevation gradient" by Veldhuisen et al.
This repository contains three supplemental tables for Veldhuisen et al.'s paper titled "Phylogenetic patterns over sixty-five years of vegetation cha...
Model output and meta-analysis data from INTERFACE paper
Model output and meta-analysis data from model-experiment comparison that came out of INTERFACE workshop. Includes output from five soil carbon models...
Forest Inventory of a Northern Hardwood Forest: Watershed 6, 2017, Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest
Forest inventory surveys were initiated in 1965, repeated in 1977, and repeated at 5 year intervals after that; this data set was collected in summer ...
RMBL Digitized Herbarium Records
Vascular Plants curated within the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory Herbarium. Specimens date to 1929 and are primarily from the East River and up...
Data from: Medical-device recalls in the UK and the device-regulation process: retrospective review of safety notices and alerts
Background: Medical devices are used widely for virtually every disease and condition. Although devices are subject to regulation, the number of recal...
Appendix A. List of the graminoid species in the experimental warming meadow, Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Gunnison County, Colorado, USA.
List of the graminoid species in the experimental warming meadow, Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Gunnison County, Colorado, USA.