GRYN Climate Data Compilation and Analysis
National Park Service. GRYN Climate Data Compilation and Analysis. 2003. National Park Service
Plants and animals are adapted to both the short-term variability of weather and long-term climate conditions. However, if extreme weather or changes in climate exceed their ability to cope, they will move, suffer, or perish. Both weather and climate shape ecological processes and the distribution of plants and animals across the landscape. For example, extreme weather in the form of droughts or floods affects wildfires, the timing and volume of streamflow, and plant growth. Climate, such as cold and wet conditions on a mountainside, affects which plants and animals live there and how quickly they grow and reproduce. Because climate, weather, and natural resource vital signs are all intricately linked, we study them simultaneously. Understanding how park vital signs responded in the past provides clues to how they may respond in the future. We track climate using weather station data from network parks. We also calculate water balance from temperature and precipitation using a model that is like a bank account for water. It tracks precipitation input, storage in the soil, and outflow via runoff and evapotranspiration. Water can be stored temporarily as snow that then melts to supply wetlands, streams, and soil moisture for plants during dry spells. Real-time weather and water balance conditions, along with historical summaries, are reported through an interactive website, www.climateanalyzer.us. By tracking the spatial and seasonal patterns in water availability, water use, and water need during drought, we explore relationships between weather, climate, and the natural resource vital signs. For example, we analyze how runoff from snowmelt influences the availability of water in wetlands for amphibians. Similarly, we analyze how drought and mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) affect whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis).
- Type
- Project
- Authors
- National Park Service
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- GRYN
Program
- Inventory and Monitoring Division, I&M Inventories
- Greater Yellowstone Inventory and Monitoring Network (GRYN)
Products
- Compilation and Analysis of Climate Data in the Greater Yellowstone/Bighorn Canyon Area
- Rocky Mountain Climate Protocol: Climate monitoring in the Greater Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain inventory and monitoring networks, Version 1.0
- Enhanced monitoring to better address rapid climate change in high-elevation parks: a multi-network strategy
- Climate summary—Grand Teton National Park: January 2024
- Greater Yellowstone climate-aquatics workshop: Report from the April 27–29, 2021, climate-smart conservation workshop
- Climate Change Hazards Summary Report for Facility Investment Planning: Grand Teton National Park
- Climate Change Hazards Summary Report for Facility Investment Planning: Yellowstone National Park
- Climate change vulnerability and adaptation in the Northern Rocky Mountains [Part 1]
- Climate change vulnerability and adaptation in the Northern Rocky Mountains [Part 2]
- Climate Change Summary, Bighorn Canyon national Recreation Area, Montana, Wyoming
- Greater Yellowstone Network climate: 2012 data summary report
- A Framework for Climate Analysis and Reporting for Greater Yellowstone (GRYN) and Rocky Mountain (ROMN) Networks
- Climate Change and Ecological Impacts at Yellowstone National Park, USA
- Climate Data Summary 2010 for Bighorn Canyon NRA and Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument
- Climate Data Summary 2010 for Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks
- Climate Data Summary 2012 for Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
- Climate Data Summary 2012 for Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks
- Climate Zonation Analysis for Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
- Climate Zone Delineation: Evaluating Approaches for Use in Natural Resource Management
- Forecasts of 21st century snowpack and implications for snowmobile and snowcoach use in Yellowstone National Park
- Framework for Linking Climate, Resource Inventories, and Ecosystem Monitoring
- Greater Yellowstone Network Climate of 2008
- Greater Yellowstone Network: 2011 climate data summary report.
- Greater Yellowstone Network: Climate of 2009
- High elevation national parks: 2010 climate summary report
- Monitoring Ecological Responses to Climate Change
- Recent Climate Change Exposure of Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
- Recent Climate Change Exposure of Grand Teton National Park
- Recent Climate Change Exposure of Yellowstone National Park
- Trends in Yellowstone’s Snowpack
- Water in the Balance: Interpreting Climate Change Impacts Using a Water Balance Model