Niwot Ridge

Niwot Ridge is an alpine ecology research station located 65 km northwest of Denver in north-central Colorado. It is on the Front Range of the southern Rocky Mountains and lies within the Roosevelt National Forest.{{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/biores.asp?code=USA+29&mode=all|title=Biosphere Reserve Information: Niwot Ridge|accessdate=2 September 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/data/lcms/niwot/|title=Niwot Ridge Long-Term Ecological Research Site|accessdate=2 September 2018}} Niwot Ridge is {{convert|2900|m|ft}} high.{{Cite web |title=Mountain Research Station |url=https://www.colorado.edu/mrs/}}

Characteristics of the site

Niwot Ridge was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1979 and was one of 17 reserves in the United States withdrew from the program in June 2017.{{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/biosphere-reserves/europe-north-america/|title=Biosphere Reserves: Europe & North America|author=UNESCO|accessdate=2 September 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://en.unesco.org/news/23-new-sites-added-unesco-s-world-network-biosphere-reserves|title=23 new sites added to UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves|date=14 June 2017|accessdate=2 September 2018}} The Niwot Ridge Long-Term Ecological Research Site was established in 1980 as a United States Forest Service experimental ecology reserve.

The site is characterized by "extensive alpine tundra, a variety of glacial landforms, glacial lakes and moraines, cirques and talus slopes, patterned ground, and permafrost", and is home to Arikaree Glacier.{{cite web|url=http://niwot.colorado.edu/location/2nd_order_location/nwt|title=Niwot Ridge (USFS - UNESCO Biosphere Reserve)|accessdate=2 September 2018}} Habitats include western spruce-fir forest, lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) subalpine forest, alpine meadows as well as ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) shrubland. The site is little influenced by human impact and is thus an excellent site to monitor biological, chemical, and physical responses to changes in atmospheric chemistry and climate. The site is administered cooperatively by the U.S. Forest Service and the University of Colorado Boulder's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) for experimental and long-term studies of alpine tundra.

The University of Colorado's Mountain Research Station facilitates research from atmospheric chemistry to alpine and sub-alpine ecology. Niwot Ridge is one of the National Science Foundation's Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER) sites and has been used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for atmospheric trace gas sampling since 1968. The eddy covariance dataset at Niwot Ridge is among the longest for forest sites,{{Cite journal|last1=Monson|first1=R. K.|last2=Turnipseed|first2=A. A.|last3=Sparks|first3=J. P.|last4=Harley|first4=P. C.|last5=Scott-Denton|first5=L. E.|last6=Sparks|first6=K.|last7=Huxman|first7=T. E.|date=May 2002|title=Carbon sequestration in a high-elevation, subalpine forest|journal=Global Change Biology|language=en|volume=8|issue=5|pages=459–478|doi=10.1046/j.1365-2486.2002.00480.x|bibcode=2002GCBio...8..459M |issn=1354-1013}} and has been used to study the role of subalpine forests in cycles of water, carbon, nutrients, and energy.{{Cite journal|last1=Williams|first1=Mark W.|last2=Seastedt|first2=Timothy R.|last3=Bowman|first3=William D.|last4=McKnight|first4=Diane M.|last5=Suding|first5=Katharine N.|date=2015-11-02|title=An overview of research from a high elevation landscape: the Niwot Ridge, Colorado Long Term Ecological Research programme|journal=Plant Ecology & Diversity|language=en|volume=8|issue=5–6|pages=597–605|doi=10.1080/17550874.2015.1123320|bibcode=2015PlEcD...8..597W |issn=1755-0874}}{{Cite journal|last1=Albert|first1=Loren P.|last2=Keenan|first2=Trevor F.|last3=Burns|first3=Sean P.|last4=Huxman|first4=Travis E.|last5=Monson|first5=Russell K.|date=2017-03-25|title=Climate controls over ecosystem metabolism: insights from a fifteen-year inductive artificial neural network synthesis for a subalpine forest|journal=Oecologia|language=en|volume=184|issue=1|pages=25–41|doi=10.1007/s00442-017-3853-0|pmid=28343362|bibcode=2017Oecol.184...25A |issn=0029-8549|url=http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/8564c3m6}}

Substantial increases in nitrogen deposition during the past three decades are one of the major concerns and have already impacted biological processes in the alpine tundra and surrounding catchment areas. Educational programs in the biosphere reserve{{cite web|url= https://en.unesco.org/biosphere|title=Biosphere reserve Meaning}} focus primarily on the university level but also include high schools and the general public.

Climate

The weather station, Boulder 14 W, is located roughly 300 feet (91 m) above Niwot Ridge. Niwot Ridge has a subalpine climate (Köppen Dfc).

{{Weather box

|location = Boulder 14 W, Colorado, 1991–2020 normals: 9828ft (2996m)

|single line = Yes

|Jan record high F = 54

|Feb record high F = 50

|Mar record high F = 60

|Apr record high F = 62

|May record high F = 71

|Jun record high F = 79

|Jul record high F = 80

|Aug record high F = 78

|Sep record high F = 78

|Oct record high F = 67

|Nov record high F = 59

|Dec record high F = 52

|year record high F =

|Jan avg record high F = 45.1

|Feb avg record high F = 43.8

|Mar avg record high F = 51.8

|Apr avg record high F = 57.2

|May avg record high F = 65.5

|Jun avg record high F = 74.0

|Jul avg record high F = 75.9

|Aug avg record high F = 73.6

|Sep avg record high F = 69.8

|Oct avg record high F = 62.4

|Nov avg record high F = 52.6

|Dec avg record high F = 44.7

|year avg record high F = 76.4

|Jan high F = 28.6

|Feb high F = 27.8

|Mar high F = 35.6

|Apr high F = 40.3

|May high F = 50.1

|Jun high F = 61.8

|Jul high F = 67.9

|Aug high F = 65.8

|Sep high F = 58.5

|Oct high F = 46.8

|Nov high F = 35.3

|Dec high F = 28.0

|year high F =

|Jan mean F = 20.2

|Feb mean F = 19.6

|Mar mean F = 26.1

|Apr mean F = 30.9

|May mean F = 39.4

|Jun mean F = 48.9

|Jul mean F = 55.2

|Aug mean F = 53.3

|Sep mean F = 46.0

|Oct mean F = 36.4

|Nov mean F = 27.2

|Dec mean F = 19.7

|year mean F =

|Jan low F = 11.8

|Feb low F = 11.5

|Mar low F = 16.7

|Apr low F = 21.5

|May low F = 28.6

|Jun low F = 35.9

|Jul low F = 42.5

|Aug low F = 40.8

|Sep low F = 33.6

|Oct low F = 26.0

|Nov low F = 19.1

|Dec low F = 11.5

|year low F =

|Jan avg record low F = -10.4

|Feb avg record low F = -10.8

|Mar avg record low F = -2.4

|Apr avg record low F = 4.2

|May avg record low F = 13.8

|Jun avg record low F = 28.8

|Jul avg record low F = 34.5

|Aug avg record low F = 31.9

|Sep avg record low F = 24.3

|Oct avg record low F = 8.4

|Nov avg record low F = -2.6

|Dec avg record low F = -11.6

|year avg record low F = -17.3

|Jan record low F = −22

|Feb record low F = −37

|Mar record low F = −10

|Apr record low F = -7

|May record low F = -1

|Jun record low F = 24

|Jul record low F = 29

|Aug record low F = 27

|Sep record low F = 17

|Oct record low F = -15

|Nov record low F = -18

|Dec record low F = −24

|year record low F =

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation inch = 2.67

|Feb precipitation inch = 2.77

|Mar precipitation inch = 3.68

|Apr precipitation inch = 4.83

|May precipitation inch = 3.82

|Jun precipitation inch = 1.95

|Jul precipitation inch = 3.04

|Aug precipitation inch = 2.51

|Sep precipitation inch = 2.01

|Oct precipitation inch = 2.17

|Nov precipitation inch = 2.26

|Dec precipitation inch = 2.15

|year precipitation inch =

|source 1 = NOAA

{{cite web

|url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&startDate=0001-01-01&endDate=9996-12-31&stations=USW00094075&format=pdf

|title = Boulder 14 W, Colorado 1991-2020 Monthly Normals

|access-date = November 1, 2023

}}

|source 2 = XMACIS (records & monthly max/mins)

{{cite web

|url = https://xmacis.rcc-acis.org/

|publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

|title = xmACIS

|access-date = November 1, 2023

}}

}}

Sources

{{free-content attribution

| author = UNESCO

| title = UNESCO - MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory

| publisher = UNESCO

| documentURL = http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/biores.asp?code=USA+29&mode=all

| License statement URL = http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/biosphere-reserves/world-network-wnbr/wnbr/

| licence = CC BY-SA IGO 3.0

}}

References

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