Rocky Mountain Climate Protocol: Climate monitoring in the Greater Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain inventory and monitoring networks, Version 1.0

Ashton, Isabel; Frakes, Brent; Burke, Jennifer; Britten, Mike; Pillmore, David; Ostermann-Kelm, Stacey; Daley, Rob; Jean, Cathie; Tercek, Mike; Gray, Stephen; Kittel, Tim

Strategies and protocols for climate monitoring in the Greater Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain inventory and monitoring networks. The standard operating procedures are in a separate file that is also listed in this reference. Climate is one of the primary drivers of the physical and ecological processes that determine the distribution, structure, and function of ecosystems. Moreover, climate is critical to park management and visitor experience, is a driver of change in other vital signs and park resources, and there is evidence that climate has changed in the past century and will continue to change. For these reasons, the Greater Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain inventory and monitoring networks have identified climate as a high priority vital sign. Here, we present a collaboratively developed protocol to monitor and report on climate for nine national park units in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. Parks within the two networks are: Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Glacier National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Yellowstone National Park. We have two overarching goals for our climate inventory and monitoring: (1) to determine variations and changes in key climate measures relative to an established baseline, and (2) to develop comprehensive and high-quality climate datasets for use in understanding how climate may affect other vital signs. Specifically, we have the following five objectives:1. Determine the status, trends, and periodicity in daily, monthly, and annual temperature, including extremes, at the scale of points, climate zones, and parks2. Determine the status, trends and periodicity in daily, monthly, and annual accumulated precipitation, including extremes, at the scale of points, climate zones, and parks3. Determine the status, trends, and periodicity in monthly and annual drought at the scale of climate divisions, parks, or climate zones4. Determine the status, trend, and periodicity in daily, monthly, and annual snow water equivalent at the scale of points, climate zones, and parks5. Determine the status, trends, and periodicity in daily, monthly, and annual streamflow at the major watershed levelTo monitor climate we will rely on data from existing climate monitoring programs. Rather than establishing new climate stations in park units, our approach is to rely on existing programs with climate stations in or near the parks that provide consistent, long-term, and high-quality climate records for our regions. We outline methods to acquire, quality control, archive, and process climate data from these national programs and report on climate at scales relevant to parks (parks or climate zones within parks). Climate status reports will be produced every 1–3 years and will provide a descriptive summary of the past year(s) climate to support yearly park science and management planning. Climate variability and trends reports will be produced on 5–10 year cycles and will present rigorous analyses of inter-annual variability and long-term historical trends. In the process of preparing these reports, we will create high-quality historical climate datasets that will be available to support research linking resource dynamics to climate, as well as to aid resource management and park interpretation programs. In addition, we will create and maintain a Web site that provides links to timely climate information, reports, and high-quality climate datasets that are relevant to the parks within the networks.

Rocky Mountain Climate Protocol: Climate monitoring in the Greater Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain inventory and monitoring networks, Version 1.0

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