Researchers share how climate change is altering Yellowstone; they hope education and science can help

Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks attract millions of visitors from across the globe each year.
(Photo by Althea Dotzour, University of Wisconsin)

Iconic and awe-inspiring, Yellowstone and Grand Teton are a part of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which draws thousands of visitors each year. But climate change is gradually altering the parks' beloved expanses. To help people understand these changes, University of Wisconsin professor and ecologist Monica Turner and her team are finding ways to illustrate what global warming could look like in Yellowstone's future, reports Elise Mahon for UW News. "The shifts that result from a changing climate are often too subtle for any individual to see, and it can be difficult to fully understand. . . . Greater Yellowstone is just one ecosystem; however, studying how it responds as the climate heats up can help us understand what may happen in places around the world. . . . And since so many people love Yellowstone, it’s a great place to help the public appreciate the magnitude and tempo of climate change."

Turner and her team are "finding ways to help reveal tomorrow's Yellowstone in pictures based on the data. Using simulated images, they hope to show people landscapes that don't yet exist but might if the climate of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem continues to get warmer and drier," Mahon writes. 

Lodgepole pines have cones that release seeds during
a fire. (Photo by Althea Dotzour, UW)

Fire is the primary element propelling regional changes. "Fire has long been a natural part of the ecosystem. Lodgepole pines are one of the most common tree species in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and they’re well adapted to the historical cadence of fires in the area. . . . Once the trees are old enough, they produce cones designed to open in fire, helping the trees establish new stands," Mahon explains. "But a warmer, drier climate is increasing the frequency of fires and disrupting the forests’ ability to recover as trees can no longer effectively disperse their seeds. . . . [There will be] fewer of the trees visitors are used to seeing in these iconic landscapes. . . .That’s concerning because forests are the backbone of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

"Studying the landscape and including more perspectives on sustaining them is vital to ensuring people from all backgrounds can visit, learn, connect with the place. . ." Mahon reports. "While tomorrow’s Yellowstone will look different than today’s, the magnitude of that difference depends on the actions of all of us."

To read more about student researchers' unique lives and be inspired, click here.
To find out more about Turner's research, click here.