Ecosystem Dynamics

Branch Chief: Zack Bowen

FORT scientists in the Ecosystem Dynamics Branch investigate a diversity of complex natural resource problems at the landscape and systems levels related to energy development and land-use change, ecosystem responses to climate change and atmospheric deposition, herbivore-ecosystem interactions, and fire effects on ecosystems.

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In the News

From NASA to NPS: FORT Scientists Bring Microbial, Biogeochemistry Expertise to Address Consequences of a Disappearing Cryosphere

Photo of Jill Baron and Austin Krcmarik at Loch Vale.

On 26-27 March 2012, USGS scientists Jill Baron and Ed Hall participated in the Study Steering Group on "Deglaciation: Past, Present, and Future" at NASA's Ames Research Center in California. The project is commissioned and supported by the NASA Cryospheric Sciences Program and the Astrobiology Institute. The purpose of the meeting is to develop research and synthesis efforts using existing data to address how a changing cryosphere (collectively, the areas of frozen water on Earth) alters microbial biodiversity, and to identify the biogeochemical consequences. Then on 28-29 March 2012, the two scientists attended the Rocky Mountain National Park All-Scientists meeting in Estes Park, Colo. Dr. Hall presented a poster on the role of microbes in the alpine nitrogen cycle, and Dr. Baron presented on "Empirical Critical Loads of Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition for Nutrient Enrichment of Mountain Lakes." At the latter event, Dr. Baron was given the 2011 Rocky Mountain National Park Stewardship Award in recognition of this and other work she has conducted in the park for 30 years.

Long-Term Ecological Research and Monitoring in the Loch Vale Watershed, Rocky Mountain National Park

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