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Sensitivity of a high‐elevation rocky mountain watershed to altered climate and CO 2
Author(s) -
Baron Jill S.,
Hartman Melannie D.,
Band L. E.,
Lammers R. B.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/1999wr900263
Subject(s) - snowpack , surface runoff , environmental science , tundra , subalpine forest , watershed , snow , transpiration , snowmelt , climate change , drainage basin , hydrology (agriculture) , precipitation , vegetation (pathology) , montane ecology , ecosystem , ecology , geography , photosynthesis , geology , medicine , botany , cartography , geotechnical engineering , pathology , machine learning , meteorology , computer science , biology
We explored the hydrologic and ecological responses of a headwater mountain catchment, Loch Vale watershed, to climate change and doubling of atmospheric CO 2 scenarios using the Regional Hydro‐Ecological Simulation System (RHESSys). A slight (2°C) cooling, comparable to conditions observed over the past 40 years, led to greater snowpack and slightly less runoff, evaporation, transpiration, and plant productivity. An increase of 2°C yielded the opposite response, but model output for an increase of 4°C showed dramatic changes in timing of hydrologic responses. The snowpack was reduced by 50%, and runoff and soil water increased and occurred 4–5 weeks earlier with 4°C warming. Alpine tundra photosynthetic rates responded more to warmer and wetter conditions than subalpine forest, but subalpine forest showed a greater response to doubling of atmospheric CO 2 than tundra. Even though water use efficiency increased with the double CO 2 scenario, this had little effect on basin‐wide runoff because the catchment is largely unvegetated. Changes in winter and spring climate conditions were more important to hydrologic and vegetation dynamics than changes that occurred during summer.