A WORKSHOP ON ALPINE RESEARCH IN THE NORTHEAST UNITED STATES, - Bretton, N.H., Jan.12-13, 2011

University Of Connecticut, Storrs CT

Investigators

Abstract

Alpine habitat in the northeastern United States is limited in extent but contributes disproportionately to biodiversity in the region. Species in those habitats are increasingly at risk because of warming climates that reduce the area of those ecosystems and increase their isolation. In recent decades, little ecological research has been conducted on the plants and animals of alpine areas in New Hampshire, New York, Maine, and Vermont, and results of much of that research are not easily accessible. This project will assess current research on alpine ecosystems in the northeast US, increase awareness of research opportunities in those ecosystems, and establish a framework for cooperation and continued exchange of information among researchers working in those ecosystems and state and federal agencies responsible for managing those ecosystems. The intellectual merit of the project is that it will increase the amount and coordination of research in alpine ecosystems in the northeast US. This will also enable comparison of responses of other alpine ecosystems, many of which are facing similar climate warming related stresses. The broader impacts of the project will result primarily from the likely application of this research to land and resource managers in this region.