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Multi-Stressor Effects

Survey of Rocky Mountain Snow Chemistry

Snow sampling, Glacier National Park, MT

USGS, in cooperation with the NPS and US Forest Service, has been conducting a synoptic snow survey in the Rockies since 1993. Over 50 sites are visited during maximum accumulation of snowpack, snow samples are collected from snow pits, and analyzed for major ions, trace metals, including mercury, and isotopes of sulfur and nitrogen. The principal investigator is George Ingersoll at the USGS-Water Resources Division in Colorado.

PRIMENet:

PRIMENet was a joint Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Park Service (NPS) program to assess the effects of environmental stressors on ecological systems nationwide. A system of 14 monitoring and research sites was established in National Parks as a part of this program. This network of monitoring and research locations used the park units as "outdoor laboratories," where environmental changes were monitored through time in relatively undisturbed sites. PRIMENet parks include: Acadia, Big Bend, Canyonlands, Denali, Everglades, Great Smoky Mountains, Glacier, Hawaii Volcanoes, Olympic, Rocky Mountain, Shenandoah, Sequoia/Kings Canyon, Theodore Roosevelt, and Virgin Islands National Parks.