Spatial and temporal scale effects on assessment of a regional ecosystem model: Modeling climate change in Glacier National Park, United States of America
White JD. 1996. Spatial and temporal scale effects on assessment of a regional ecosystem model: Modeling climate change in Glacier National Park, United States of America. University of Montana
"A regional ecosystem model (RHESSys) was tested in the Lake McDonald and St. Mary''s Lake watersheds of Glacier National Park, with the hypothesis that predictions of the ecosystem simulation are scale dependent. I tested the ability of Landsat Thematic Mapper data for estimating LAI using sampled field LAI values for calibration. The validity of ecosystem simulations were also tested using field data collected on carbon and water budgets. Predicted soil carbon flux, aboveground production, net primary production (NPP), snowpack, hydrologic discharge, soil water content, and leaf water potentials were correlated with observed values. Ecosystem simulations demonstrated that NPP is correlated with biogeographical distribution of lifeforms across the Continental Divide. Simulated variable climate showed upper treelines changing with greater encroachment by broad-leafed shrub communities, while lower coniferous forest treelines showed greater instability and greater production in broad-leafed communities. Water and nitrogen limits on aboveground production changed with variable climate indicating changes in site nutrient and water limitations."
- Type
- Academic
- Authors
- White, Joseph
- Date of Issue
- 1996
- Publisher
- University of Montana
- Units
- GLAC
- Keywords
- Carbon Cycle, Climate Change, Discharge, Dissertation, Ecology, Lake McDonald watershed Glacier National Park MT, Leaf Area Index (LAI), Modeling, Nutrients, Physical Sciences, Primary Productivity, Saint Mary Lake watershed Glacier National Park MT, Snowpack, Soil Chemistry, Soil Moisture