US Forest Service Research and Development GLEES (Glacier Lake Ecosystem Experiments Site) - Rocky Mountain Research Station - RMRS - US Forest Service
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GLEES (Glacier Lake Ecosystem Experiments Site)

[image] The Glacier Lakes Ecosystem Experiments Site (GLEES) is a 600-ha, wilderness-like site located in complex terrain at 3,200 to 3,500 m elevation. Research at Glacier Lakes is conducted to determine the effects of atmospheric deposition and climate variability and change on alpine and subalpine aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems at the upper treeline ecotone. Long-term physical, chemical, and biological monitoring is an important component of the activities at Glacier Lakes. The site is located in the Snowy Range of the Medicine Bow Mountains in the Laramie Ranger District on the Medicine Bow National Forest.

Glacier Lakes contains small, alpine/subalpine watersheds that include persistent snowfields, first- and second-order streams, wetlands, and glacial cirque lakes. Two adjacent alpine lakes are of similar surface area and depth but differ in watershed area, inflow patterns, turnover rates, snowcover, water chemistry, and aquatic biota. These lakes are ice covered 7 to 8 months each year and have low acid-neutralizing capacity.

Climate

Glacier Lakes has a harsh environment with high winds and low air temperatures. The site is snow covered from November to July. Average air temperature is -1 °C, average windspeeds range from 6 to 9 m/sec, and gusts greater than 20 m/sec are common.

Soils

Glacier Lakes developed from recent glaciation, with glacial cirque basins dominating the upper reaches of the three main catchments. A permanent snowfield exists at the top of one of the basins. Bedrock at the site is primarily Medicine Bow Peak quartzite. Soils are minimally developed, formed over quartzite bedrock that is crossed by weatherable mafic intrusions of amphibolite. Glacial till is present in the lower elevation areas of the watershed. Geological features include exposed bedrock, talus slopes and shallow, immature soils with low base saturation.

Vegetation

Alpine and subalpine vegetation are dominant, with 304 vascular plant species in 14 distinct forest, meadow, shrub, and krummholz plant associations. Trees older than 700 years are found within Glacier Lakes. Almost 200 phytoplankton species have been identified at the site.

Long-Term Data Bases

Glacier Lakes maintains an extensive collection of meteorological, hydrological, water chemistry, snow chemistry, wet and dry deposition, geological, soils, snow cover, aquatic, floristic, and topographic information. Two monitoring sites within Glacier Lakes have been established for meteorologic and air-quality monitoring. The site includes a network of terrestrial field plots, hydrologic sites, and permanent vegetation and aquatic sampling plots. A herbarium collection of vascular plant species is available for researchers, with a duplicate set archived at the University of Wyoming Herbarium. Checklists of terrestrial vascular plant species, phytoplankton, periphyton, zooplankton, and macroinvertebrates have been assembled.

Sites for four national long-term monitoring networks are in operation with data available through national websites: Clean Air Status and Trends Network, Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments, National Atmospheric Deposition Program, and AmeriFlux.

Research, Past and Present

Research programs on the following topics are under way at Glacier Lakes:
  • Seedling germination and survival at the alpinesubalpine ecotone. Plots have been established to examine the relationship between patterns of seedling survival establishment and biotic and abiotic factors at multiple scales (10 to - 25 m) under natural conditions.
  • Nitrogen deposition. In small wet and dry subalpine meadow plots, nitrogen deposition has been experimentally increased, and changes in soil respiration, nitrogen processing, and aboveground species composition and abundance are being monitored.
  • Riparian hydrology. Little is known about the movement of pollutants, such as nitrates, within the hydrologic systems of alpine environments. A stream reach that drains a glacial cirque basin was studied to determine nitrogen retention of atmospheric inputs during the water year. The near-stream spatial and temporal gradients of nitrates in the soil solute were the focus of this study.
  • Dynamics of disturbance on subalpine forests. Plots have been established to identify disturbance events, including diseases, and to quantify their relationship to the formation of gaps in the forest canopy of the subalpine forest within Glacier Lakes and at the nearby Snowy Range Research Natural Area.
  • Dendrochronology in the subalpine forest. Research is developing tree-ring width chronologies to document maximum age structures in the subalpine forest stands in and near Glacier Lakes. The age of forest stands at the site has been determined.
  • Exchange of trace gases between the atmosphere and the Earth's surface. Eddy covariance technology is being used to study the exchange of trace gases such as carbon dioxide and pollutants such as ozone. The AmeriFlux site at Glacier Lakes has been continuously collecting data since November 1999. In addition, the influence of wind atmospheric ventilation on the exchange of trace gases from snowpacks and soils is being studied.

Major Research Accomplishments and Effects on Management

Glacier Lakes is used for developing and testing techniques for monitoring of air-quality-related values (AQRV) in wilderness-type ecosystems. It is a research site for the evaluation of new questions on air pollution effects on natural ecosystems identified from the Federal Land Managers AQRV Workgroup Phase I Report.

Research conducted at Glacier Lakes first identified significant levels of carbon dioxide released under the snow in the winter. Research has also documented fluxes of nitrogen dioxide and methane from alpine and subalpine ecosystems. A strategy to estimate the sensitivity of alpine plant species to atmospheric deposition was developed at Glacier Lakes and a Longterm Ecological Research site in the Colorado Front Range. This approach utilizes plant physiological and morphological characteristics to estimate pollutant uptake in a process that could be used quickly and easily in the field.

A model was developed to estimate snowmelt in complex terrain without extensive field surveys. The method uses aerial photography and has been field-verified at Glacier Lakes. Methods and protocols for water-quality sampling in high-elevation environments were developed and tested at the site. These protocols are now used by national forests in long-term monitoring programs to determine the effects of atmospheric deposition on highelevation aquatic ecosystems. They are also being used to determine the effects of ecosystem disturbance on water quality.

A portable monitoring system was developed at Glacier Lakes to monitor the effects of snowmobiles and wildfires on air quality in natural ecosystems. The system has been deployed in Wyoming and California.

Collaborators

Researchers working at Glacier Lakes have come from Colorado State University, University of Wyoming, and Wake Forest University, as well as the USDA National Resource Conservation Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the USDI's Bureau of Land Management and Geological Survey.

Research Opportunities

Researchers are invited to explore opportunities to conduct research on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems at GLEES by contacting the site administrator.

Facilities

Glacier Lakes is accessible year round, with winter travel by snow machine. Laboratory, storage, lodging, and kitchen facilities are available for researchers in Centennial, Wyoming, about 10 km from Glacier Lakes. Information on the site is summarized in a 1994 USDA Forest Service publication: GTR-RM-249, The Glacier Lakes Ecosystem Experiments Site.

Lat. 41°22'30" N, long. 106°15'30" W

Contact Information

Glacier Lakes Ecosystem Experiments Site
US Forest Service

Rocky Mountain Research Station
240 West Prospect Street
Fort Collins, CO 80526
Tel: (970) 498-1239

Forest website

Related Links
GLEES (Glacier Lake Ecosystem Experiments Site) Website
 

The material for the Experimental Forests pages was originally published in:

Adams, Mary Beth; Loughry, Linda; Plaugher, Linda, comps. 2004. Experimental Forests and Ranges of the USDA Forest Service. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-321. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station. 178 p. GTR-NE-321 - 5.5 mb pdf

Information has been updated since original publication.

Rocky Mountain Research Station
Last Modified: Monday, 28 April 2008 at 17:14:21 EDT (Version 1.0.5)