Route Across the Rocky Mountains

Lee-side Frontogenesis in the Rocky Mountains

The development and motion of fronts associated with lee-side troughs on large mountain barriers has been investigated. These fronts differ from ordinary cold fronts in their horizontal temperature field, which is characterized by a sinusoidal thermal ridge. The thermal ridge intensifies, while remaining stationary with respect to the mountains, and moves eastward upon the approach of a Pacific...

Transpiration and stomatal conductance across a steep climate gradient in the southern Rocky Mountains

Transpiration (E) is regulated over short time periods by stomatal conductance (Gs) and over multi-year periods by treeand stand-structural factors such as leaf area, height and density, with upper limits ultimately set by climate. We tested the hypothesis that tree structure, stand structure and Gs together regulate E per ground area (Eg) within climatic limits using three sites located across...

Wood dynamics in headwater streams of the Colorado Rocky Mountains

[1] An 11-year monitoring study begun in 1996 evaluates wood mobility in five Colorado Rocky Mountain streams. Each channel reach is 40–70 m in length. Initial surveys included channel dimensions and arrangement of each piece of wood. Annual resurveys focused on wood arrangement and persistence. Average diameter of 15 cm and length of 3.2 m varied little among sites. Average yearly mobility ran...

Changing Climate Suitability for Forests in Yellowstone & the Rocky Mountains

Holocene lake-level trends in the Rocky Mountains, USA

The availability of water shapes life in the western United States, and much of the water in the region originates in the Rocky Mountains. Few studies, however, have explicitly examined the history of water levels in the Rocky Mountains during the Holocene. Here, we examine the past levels of three lakes near the Continental Divide in Montana and Colorado to reconstruct Holocene moisture trends...