Long-term watershed ecosystem research in national parks
Stottlemyer R. 1987. Long-term watershed ecosystem research in national parks. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. 68(3):423
External threats as atmospheric contaminants have caused the Park Service to shift more research emphasis to ecosystem structure and function. Six parks and biosphere reserves currently participate and use a similar research design. These ecosystems are poorly understood. Results show mountain parks highly sensitive to anthropic effects at the ecosystem level. But in studies of the Sierra, Rocky Mountain, and Great Lake parks we also see ecosystem exposure to major natural perturbation. This results in much baseline variation against which man's often incremental but potentially chronic impact must be discerned. Study results indicate that this approach might better quantify impact magnitude earlier. The research has attracted substantial outside scientific participation. These findings suggest a major Park Service role should be assuring support for comprehensive long-term ecosystem monitoring to provide the context for research. This would further increase the research value of national parks and improve the potential for mandate compliance by the Park Service.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Stottlemyer, Robert
- Units
- ISRO
- Keywords
- Ecology, Management, Research & Studies