Western Mountain Initiative
The impetus for integration among Western Mountain Initiative (WMI) projects stems from the need to understand how the unique features of mountain systems will determine regional ecosystem responses to climatic change, as well as to identify how large mountain systems influence each other.
Projects in the Western Mountain Initiative:
1998-2003
Common Goals, Objectives and Scientific Issues:
Shared research themes:
Table 1. Scientific themes covered by WMI programs (shaded areas indicate scientific themes included in each research program). (From the WMI Web site.)

Shared Objectives:
- Identify common objectives and scientific themes.
- Collaborate to develop general principles for understanding and managing mountain ecosystems based on commonalties among program findings.
- Share information and projects in the WMI network by developing an information clearinghouse for Western mountain ecosystems, integrating databases for large-scale assessments, and validating and applying ecosystem models across mountain ecoregions.
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Featured USGS Publication
The Western Mountain Initiative (WMI) of the US Geological Survey
(USGS) studies global change in the mountains of the American West.
This MRI Newsletter describes the functioning and the specialties of
this Initiative, which we advance as an excellent example of
scientific collaboration. MRI talked with two of WMI’s principal
investigators: Jill Baron, a USGS scientist and Senior Research
Ecologist with the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado
State University, and Dave Peterson, Senior Scientist with the USDA
Forest Service at the Pacific Northwest Research Station in Seattle.
For the second part of the article they joined us in a discussion
about the key leverage points in developing adaptation strategies to
deal with global change in mountains. Access the Newsletter >
Related USGS Resources
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Odessa Lake
Related USGS Resource
Western Mountain Initiative is an integration of research programs that study global change in mountain ecosystems of the western United States.
Related USGS Resource
Loch Vale Watershed Research Project - This project was established to "share results and information on real and potential threats to natural alpine and subalpine resources with the public, scientific community, and air, water, and land managers." Learn More >
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