Working Group Descriptions and Contact Information

Bark Beetle Disturbances and Social Perspectives on High Severity Outbreaks

Since the year 2000, historically unprecedented outbreaks of native bark beetles (Dendroctonus spp. and Ips spp.) have killed over 47 million ha of coniferous forest in western North America. Increasing beetle populations are mediated by warm and dry climate conditions, though stand age and host density are also known to be important factors. Beetle outbreaks change ecosystem composition and structure, alter biogeochemical cycles, and modify landscape interactions with wildfire. Socioeconomic systems are adversely impacted, including damages to merchantable timber, devaluation of real estate, diminished air and water quality, and reductions in tourism revenues from impaired landscape aesthetics.

This Working Group seeks to determine whether outbreaks of comparable scale and intensity occurred in the past and how longer-term ecological data can be applied to inform policy development and shape social perspectives. First, we will develop a framework for integrating satellite imagery, forest stand inventories, tree-ring records, and pollen data from lake sediments with the goal of reconstructing outbreaks over centennial to millennial timescales. Second, we will assess how long-term ecological data can be used to help contextualize bark beetle outbreaks for tourism, recreation, land managers, and private stakeholders.

A workshop is scheduled for May 2015 to facilitate the development of a research proposal targeted to the National Science Foundation. Additionally, a manuscript will result from the workshop that will be submitted for peer review shortly after the meeting.

Governance Working Group

The governance working group began at the August 2013 MtnSEON Flathead Lake meeting by those observing that the “best available science” does not determine public and private land use decisions. These should be understood as actors’ responses to multiple laws, history, politics, economics, cultural values, communication, perceived risk, competing authorities, and social conflicts. Our research question is,“How can we systematically understand the structure and processes of public decision making in mountain environments and the role of science and other factors in these decisions at multiple scales?” We began with a literature review around the propositions of adaptive management because the concept is increasingly embraced by both resilience scholars and US public resource management agencies for governing landscapes with multiple interests at different at larger geographic scales, and because public administration and social science scholars have offered recent meta-studies, comparative constructs, and cross-cutting research questions.

The Mountain Research Initiative (MRI) also co-sponsored and organized three international conference sessions on governance, including an invited session organized for the September 2013 MtnCLIM conference in Utah on institutional analysis, Coupled Human-Natural Systems and the Socio-Ecological Systems (SES) Approach. The conference convened scientists and managers addressing climate change impacts and adaptation strategies. Speakers and others met to plan next steps, which may include using outside funding sources to convene smaller clusters of interested local, tribal, and national agencies and scientists that were identified throughout the year, to develop applied research manuscripts and proposals for comparative US, European, and Latin American case studies. Interested network members are welcome.

Large Carnivore Conflicts in Mountain-Valley Ecosystems of the Western US

The primary goal of our workshop, held October 2-4, 2014 in Mammoth Hot Springs, WY, was to (1) produce a multi-dimensional conceptual model that identifies the social and ecological impacts/responses associated with wolves and other large carnivores that compete with human harvest systems, and (2) create a road map for proposal development.  We formed a workshop committee that carefully planned the 3-day event in Yellowstone National Park that included a homework assignment on data needs and modeling components as well as prepared presentations.  Large carnivores and human harvest systems (ranches, farms, and other extractive practices like hunting and fishing) compete. 

This already-coupled socio-ecological system provides a rich set of information for data acquisition, synthesis, analysis, and modeling yet we identified data on the human-social side as deficient when compared to the ecological side.  We developed a macro model structure that solved two problems: (1) eliminated the need to couple social and ecological models, and (2) eliminated the need to define a common currency between the two discipline-based model types.  Rather, we identified an integrated ecological model structure that includes an expanded social sciences component with a goal of successful coexistence between human and carnivore/prey populations that seek to maximize tolerance/acceptance and quantify risks (predation risk, depredation risk, economic risk).  We developed a ‘road-map’ of likely proposal submissions and outlined a publication using colonizing wolves in the northern Rockies as a case study with workshop attendees (ecologists, sociologists, agency personnel) as co-authors.

Large Lakes Initiative

The Large Lakes Initiative of the MtnSEON held an organizational teleconference in March 2012. That meeting resulted in a set of priority ecological topics: food-web dynamics; nutrient dynamics (including heavy metals); and within-lake physical processes, particularly heat budgets. These ecological processes are to be coupled with social/economic systems using the lakes as integrators of watershed changes.

Examples of questions include: 1) How do changes in water quality drive social perceptions and economic values of large lakes and how best model the integration of social and ecological processes? 2) What are the consequences of increasing N-loading on food web dynamics and how is N-loading interactive with legacy ions, particularly toxic metals?

Currently, about 35 people have expressed interest in this initiative, including faculty from seven universities and representatives from state and federal agencies, and tribes/tribal colleges. Two planning meetings will be held late fall and early winter, one possibly in collaboration with the RiverScapes Initiative, with which there is a great deal of overlap in interest in combining social-ecological modeling -- the intent is to submit a proposal to NSF’s Macrosystems Program in April 2015. A separate proposal is being developed with tribal colleges and regional universities to improve articulation of underrepresented groups from 2-year programs at tribal colleges to 4-year degree programs at tribal colleges and state universities; and from BS degrees to MS degrees. This separate effort also involves the RiverScapes Initiative, both providing research opportunities.

The Processes, Patterns and Mechanisms of Ventenata dubia Invasion in Complex Western Landscapes

Plant invasions are significantly impacting natural and managed systems worldwide, often reducing the diversity and resilience of the invaded ecosystem. Though scientific investment into invasive species research has increased exponentially in recent years, much of the study remains limited to particular habitats or land uses. However, many ecological processes occur at larger scales, encompassing multiple ecosystems and shifting land usage. For example, though much of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) and Northern Rockies (NR) have been developed for agriculture, there are often complex tapestries of unmanaged prairie, managed grassland, perennial forage, annual crops, and forest ecosystems. This diversity of land use and plant communities provides different habitats which will ultimately influence the course of the invasion process.

In addition, little attention is paid to the feedbacks between social and ecological systems in determining the fate of invasive plant populations and their subsequent impacts on human communities. In order to fully appreciate the dynamics of exotic plant invasions, studies must seek to integrate information across diverse landscapes, across levels of the biological hierarchy, and in the context of social systems. This working group will address these issues through investigations of Ventenata dubia, an invasive annual grass that is of increasing ecological and economic concern across the region. We hope the results of these collaborations will provide the backdrop to effective, multi-scale integrated pest management of V. dubia and promote long-term insights into the use of social-ecological data for addressing regional conservation issues.

RiverScapes Initiative

The basic goal of this initiative is to better understand the effects of climate change on river habitats and fisheries by examining riverine landscapes (riverscapes) longitudinally from headwaters to estuary and near-shore marine systems. Many past and on-going projects within the Columbia River Basin and Pacific Rim watersheds provide both background data and opportunities for collaboration. High-resolution satellite imagery of riverscapes will be analyzed with genetic and demographic data and spatially-explicit hydrological and thermal models to assess the vulnerability of selected fish species (mainly salmonids) under current conditions and future climate scenarios.

The RiverScapes Initiative includes a social/economic component to better understand social attitudes and values of riverscapes, especially flood plains, as key elements in the maintenance of human well-being because of their importance of biogeochemical processes that promote water quality, maintain regional biodiversity and productivity, and provide substantial agricultural and timber values. Moreover, many flood plains are traditional Native American gathering places and are key points of access for many forms of recreation.

Partnerships are being formed with local NGOs and agencies to develop educational activities including short courses for managers, and with tribal colleges to provide research experiences for undergraduates. There are currently about 25 people involved in this project, including state and federal agencies, NGOs, tribes and tribal colleges, and four universities.

Social Ecological Systems Training and Education Program(SESTEP)

The Social Ecological Systems Training and Education Program (SESTEP) aims to provide professional certification and graduate-level accreditation of “SES (social-ecological systems) in practice” for land and natural resource practitioners, managers, and decision-makers. The first prototype of SESTEP is planned for Fall 2015 at an academic institution in the Intermountain West. The 10-week SESTEP program will include two weeks of in-person training and eight weeks of virtual course work.

During the in-person training, participants will learn SES theory, communication and collaboration skills of working across disciplines, regulatory considerations, and a process to identify and analyze the SES system in which they work. During the virtual course work, participants will engage in 2-3 course modules of their choice on topics such as, social network building, SES modeling, and basics of biophysical and social science. As a working group funded by the MtnSEON project, two in-person meetings of the SESTEP organizing team were proposed.

The first meeting was held in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho in October 2014. The second meeting is planned for the spring of 2015. The working group aims to produce a white paper that details SESTEP and its targeted audiences, a course curriculum, and a peer-reviewed manuscript to justify the SESTEP training process and implementation.

Socioecological Patterns and Processes in the Blue Mountains Ecoregion of the Pacific Northwest

The primary objective of our Working Group (WG), established in July 2014, is to build upon and expand existing social-ecological research opportunities in the Blue Mountains Ecoregion of eastern Oregon and Washington. In particular, we aim to capitalize on long-term data available from the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range (Starkey) and adjacent National Forests, and on socioecological systems (SES) information about local, natural resource-based communities from ongoing and new research.

The initial focus of the WG is to hold a workshop that will bring together scientists, stakeholders, and managers to explore opportunities for landscape-scale research using existing Starkey data, and data from adjacent public and private lands, to address important ecological and SES issues about management of dry forests and rangelands in the Pacific Northwest. The group will investigate how to best leverage Starkey’s data sets by placing them in a regional context in which the interacting effects of climate change, vegetation, hydrology, grazing, human disturbance, and insects are investigated.

This research will provide new knowledge to aid in fostering adaptation, improving resilience, and supporting the sustainability of natural and human systems within the complex mountain landscapes of the Blue Mountains. Activities conducted to date include an ongoing series of conference calls to refine WG direction, discuss key data sets, and plan for the workshop in early 2015. Several WG team members also are developing an LTREB pre-proposal for submission in January 2015 to assess the potential impacts of climate change on population performance of elk and cattle in the Intermountain West, using >20 years of weather and animal condition data from Starkey.

Student Led Initiative on Mountain and Water Ecosystems

The Blackfeet people are a significant species that are integral to the focal landscape and its culture. The Blackfeet people and the land are one in the same connected by the language. The Blackfeet language and the stories are derived from the land. The language and the stories are what shapes the Blackfeet culture. Blackfeet Community College offers opportunity for students to learn from the community and harvest knowledge to build opportunity for the future.

The tribal college is a place that connects students to community as they work toward their undergraduate degrees to support successful learning of its students. Student Led Initiative on Mountain and Water Ecosystems followed a process that included student leadership, Geo science careers interest, community based learning, Blackfoot knowledge integration and student research. Managing professionals, retired professionals, community members, BCC faculty and staff, Blackfeet elders, and students were able to engage in an Ecosystems Summit that helped them to share their perspectives and knowledge on Mountain and Water Ecosystems within the Blackfeet Reservation.

The Blackfeet Reservation is a unique community that has professionals that are knowledgeable in understanding the Blackfeet Landscape. The participants in the Eco systems summit shared knowledge and perspective Blackfeet traditional land stewardship, past professional practices, mentorship, research, and current practices. The Eco-systems Summit provided opportunity for students to connect to their community through professional knowledge of their homeland. Professionals were provided the opportunity to engage in discussion and share perspective on integrated management and future professionals in the fields involved in eco-systems management.

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