MRI Blog

El Agua en los Andes.

Los Andes es un lugar increíble, y el que más nos debería importar. Proporciona alimentos, biodiversidad, minerales, turismo y mucho más, pero el agua dulce, que es vital para la vida, en exceso o en escasez puede afectar  seriamente el sustento  de la población.

From Data to Knowledge, from Knowledge to Action
The icy wind from Siberia ensured that the members of the organizing committee for the Forum Carpaticum 2012 stayed close together when they discussed the planning and implementation of the S4C key event scheduled for early summer. Upon invitation of Lubos Halada, Institute of Landscape Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, more than twenty scientists of the Scientific Organizing Committee gathered for two days at Smolenice Castle to sort and discuss submitted abstracts, and to shape and organize the conference.
Of equal importance was the discussion among the S4C Scientific Steering Commitee members about the far less tangible objectives of the Science for the Carpathians initiative, such as stimulating the dialogue with policy, shaping a Carpathian research area or facilitating the access to data and information for the sake of sustainable development. So far, these topics did not get the attention they actually deserve, despite that fact that such linkage between research and real-life problems has been prominently declared in the title of the next Forum Carpaticum: From Data to Knowledge, from Knowledge to Action.



Trespassing disciplinary borders is like a Siberian wind
Indeed, it takes an extra effort to think beyond thematic and disciplinary conference sessions. Disciplinary sessions allowing interaction among peers with a similar mindset are truely cosy places when Siberian winds bang at the shutters of the Smolenice castle. However, to progress in science, we have to fight against two strong human forces: First, our own desire to organize the scientific world in disciplinary categories, and second, the seduction to talk about things we already know. As described in Michael Nielson's book Reinventing Discovery, people in a group tend to reinforce preconceived ideas rather than to systematically complement their knowledge. We need to invent new tools allowing us to pool all the information we gather, for instance, at a conference like the Forum Carpaticum. Such attempt should go far beyond the publication of extended abstracts. Making use of the "collective knowledge" of the Science for the Carpathians initiative remains a key challenge.

Getting equipped for the future
The discussion around the science-practice-policy gap and the manifold obstacles in the field of data sharing, let alone open science, leaves many of us with discomfort, simply because we are no experts in such fuzzy fields. Moreover, it is questionable if such engagement will yield the academic merit scientists are aiming at.
Yet, in the Research Agenda for the Carpathians, the S4C community clearly declares the intent to take responsibility for advocacy at the policy level and to make an effort to enhance data integration, harmonization and access at the pan-Carpathian scale. Further, with the draft of the Memorandum of Understanding between the S4C and the Interim Secretariate of the Carpathian Convention (ISCC-UNEP), to be signed at the Forum Carpaticum 2012, the Carpathian science community testifies the will to put research into service of Carpathian policy. A clear signal of good will that needs to be followed up by concrete actions - from both, science and policy!

"There is still hope in Mountain Research in Africa!"

After a brief stay in Kenya, where I attended African Association of Insect Scientists, I met Philip Omondi and Boniface Kiteme. I used the opportunity to introduce the GCRNAM to the african insect scientists community who are still worried about the issue of climate change and how to adapt insect science to the situation. There were two planary lectures on climate change in relation to insect, especially the issue of coffee/tea production in African highlands and the proliferation of the coffee berry borer in a scenario of temperature increase which is likely to favour the pest.

I also had the chance to attend the Mbale meeting. My colleague and friend from icipe Dr. Tino Johanson coordinator the Chiesa project at icipe and I shared the road with Akamba bus from Nairobi to Mbale, just beneath the Ugandan side of Mount-Elgon. At that time, I used to believe that Mountain research in Africa was an uncommon field and I was still trying to convince myself if it was promising field to undertake. Even the program that was given on the website could not give me a hind of the type of research programs that are being conducted in African Mountains by african researchers.

Due to the fragility of mountain ecosystems, it was important for both researchers and policy-makers to identify shortcoming that underpin sustainability, adaptation and resilience regarding to mountain resources. The Mbale conference is the first of its kind in East Africa and was organized by key stakeholders including governmental and non-governmental organizations such as NGOs, Universities etc… The conference was organized by most of the pioneers’ researchers who attended the creation of the Global Change Research Network in African Mountains in 2007 in Kampala. Before the conference I have had several email conversations with Bob Nakileza about the main topics and themes of the conference. Of course we used the opportunity to prepare a key note adress about the Network and the Mountain Research Initiative, our objectives and expected results. The overall conference's objectives were to deliberate upon issues affecting sustainability in East Africa by bringing together researchers working on Mountains in East Africa. By creating such meetings, it will promote South-South collaborations and strengthen international partnership in mountain/highland-lowland research. The conference aimed at publishing eventually quality publications in form of an edited volume in mountain research.

Over 40 communications from 60 attendees were presented in the ICEAM conference at Mbale Resort Hotel. Various topics including ecosystem services, adaptation, climate change, conservation and biodiversity, urban-rural interactions, cultural heritage, trans-boundary conflicts have been discussed. At that moment I confidently stated "There is still hope in Mountain Research in Africa!"

Ecosystem services and Livelihoods

Mountains regions are subjected to environmental stress due to populations increase and poor governance in addition to the issue of climate change. There are many reasons that may cause conflicts: insecurity from illegal arms, land mines (UXO), cattle raiding across regional borders, cultural disharmony and environmental shocks (ASALs). However, most of these conflicts have severe repercussions on the environments. Mr. Francis Onditi came up with a talk about “Shared borders, common problems: policy options for a comprehensive livelihood adaptation framework in Eastern Africa” which depicted the real situation on trans-boundary calamities due to population movement affecting mountain resources and ecosystems services. In his paper, Francis described a participatory rural appraisal (PRA) to follow up and predict potential conflicts in East African Mountains which can be used by the East Africa Community.

In South Sudan for instance, the drivers of livelihood-based conflict are mainly the seasonal changes; for example, in Torit County, cattle raids tend to occur on a weekly basis. The estimates of human deaths related to cattle were 15-20 per months (EES Strategic Plan 2008/10). It is believed that conflicts are more common in the months of Dec and Jan rain fall distribution).

In Kenya and Ethiopia border, the drivers of livelihood-based conflict in Ilemi Triangle include: colonial administration (British & Italians); cultural differences between communities (Turkana, Didinga, Toposa, Inyangatom and Dissanech), territorial disputes. The perception of residents on the influence of territorial boundaries was not sharp and this is due to many factors for instance; free movement accelerated by the need to accommodate increasing pastoral productivity, population increase and of course ecological stresses.

The “Gun Culture”; in most communities in East Africa, guns are viewed as central fixture in the determination of social and cultural hierarchies. For that reason, there are homemade arms by local Blacksmith. There is strong pressure on communities to acquire guns for self-defense as well as prestige for instance in Kenya-Tanzania border.

In South Sudan and Ugandan border, civilians are often rapped by the official government forces like the Owinj Ki Bull and Narus black spots. The regions are characterized by elusive boundaries and there is a constant movement of livelihood assets across borders. Such conditions are favorable for criminal activities of rebel groups and militia- Notably the Didinga and Buya along the SS-EAC roads.

The study showed that livelihood failure across the borders is largely determined by inter-communal factors such as culture and beliefs. Interventional programs must focus on household coping strategies and gender roles. The emerging new generational gap is critical and should be considered as part of livelihood intervention framework. Militarized development among some countries is a spoiling factor as witnessed along water points. The focus should be on the emerging livelihood-based conflict triggers as opposed to the traditional conflict drivers. However, there is still a lot of effort on how to obtain information timely and share it with relevant actors to support decisive strategic interventions.

Still in the theme of ecosystem services, I listened to Dr. Festus Bagoora presentation on “Soil loss variations with Inter-annual rainfall, Slope and Seasonal cropping systems in the highland region of south-western Uganda”. Soil erosion and mass-wasting are major environmental problem in the humid mountainous and highland regions of Southern Uganda. Heavy rains and soil degradation in conjunction to climate change and human activity could be the mains reasons. Dr. Bagoora indicated that: there is a prevailing need to adopt both physical and agronomic soil conservation systems to protect the ecosystems for resilience.

Ecosystems play a great role in our daily lives but, we tend to underscore their importance, thinking that environmental benefits are “FREE”. Although water is not considered as part of the ecosystem services, the processes of purification for its availability are strongly linked to community development. In that regard, Babu and Ogaram presented their work on “Ecosystem Services for Urban Water Supply: Case Study, Manafwa River System- Mbale, Uganda”. Ecosystem degradation and particularly deforestation are major threats to the provision of ecosystem services (water purification, soil erosion control). Inadequate resource monitoring and protection may soon lead to supply shortages in major urban centers. Babu and Ogaram tried to determine the trends in water quality of the Manafwa River and to evaluate the spatial differences in the water quality along the Manafwa River. Water quality, treatability and the cost in the next decade were assessed as well. In a timeframe of 10 years, they reported an increasing trend of water turbidity due to solide fractions emanating from mountain soil erosion. Between 1999 and 2007, water alkalinity was decreasing at 1mg/L CaCO3/yr. Though the FC counts generally decreased, it was not statistically significant (17 CFU/yr). There were significant differences in chemical usage between the DRY (lower) and WET season (higher). The unit treatment cost in 2007 was 61 UGX/m3and in 2015; it will be 80 UGX/m3. This degradation in water quality and purification which is an ecosystem service can be attributed to land use differences. The wet season alum dosage is higher than the dry is due to high erosion- a consequence of widespread destruction of natural vegetative cover in the catchment. The authors stated that “If Manafwa water works was situated at Mount Elgon National Park (un-degraded area upstream); there would probably be no need of extensive treatment of the raw water”. 

In conclusion for that interesting presentation, “the costs of ecosystem services are normally underscored not until the effects of their degradation become visible (e.g. increasing water treatment costs and water tariffs)”.

“Farmers’ Perceptions of the Erosion Risk on Mt. Elgon: Implications to Soil and Water Conservation”. Dr Yazid Bamutaze explained how farmer’s perceptions influence implementation of SWC measures on Mt. Elgon in Uganda. He looked at the awareness of erosion as an environmental hazard positively influences field implementation of SWC measures and how farmers of education influence implementation of SWC. The study showed that farmers are aware of the occurrence of erosion and its negative consequences. They also farmers perceive the quality of land to be decreasing. As predicted by models, farmer’s perception matched with scientific predictions. However, there is a gap between perceptions and SWC actions probably due to Institutional constraints which need further investigations (labor, incomes, gender), historical approaches etc. Dr. Yazid recommended that there is need to harness the high level of awareness of erosion as a hazard and to explore promising strategies to incentivise farmers to conserve.

In East Africa, Mountains forests are threatened by farmers who are looking for more fertile land. Clare Mutumba et al. assessed the “The impact of land use and cover on soil organic carbon stocks”. She conducted survey in Mt Elgon to look at “the impact of land use and cover on soil organic carbon stocks”. She compared soils of several altitudes of the Atari catchment considering slopes and depth. The major outcome of her study was “The higher the vegetation cover and diversity in a land use and cover the more the soil organic stock”. In response to land degradation and soil erosion which are the results of poor farming methods, deforestation, due to population increase. David Kiirya presented “Crop residue utilization for soil productivity improvement, livestock feeding and erosion control in Mt. Elgon”. Since “Poverty and environmental problems are both children of the same mother, and that mother is ignorance”, the consequence of these bad practices is high cost of inputs by farmers. Mr. Kiirya and his team suggested the integration of organic manures that could sustain soil fertility in Mountain land where soil erosion is a rule. The technique is beneficial in soil fertility improvement, yield increment and runoff control. Although results are not immediately seen due to terrain-floods, the nature of soil texture is very important. Crop residues are a useful resource in soil fertility improvement. They increase crop yields and many farmers from the study sites are currently using crop residues effectively. The approach is generally cost effective and sustainable towards meeting soil conservation requirements. There is a need to improving the knowledge gap of farmers in making on-spot decision aid tools.

Personal perception of the importance of Global Change Research Network in African Mountains

The introduction to the Global Change Research Network in African Mountain (Afromount) has been well perceived by all the researchers and scientists that we met in South Africa. Many of them were already aware of the existence of such a Network since launched in Kampala Uganda in 2007 and the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI); however, there have been very few echoes or news about our activities. Actually, very few scientists were aware of its functionality and its objectives.

Current research projects regarding to Global Change Research in African mountains

In Kwazulu Natal

I started my trip to Pietmarritzburg to meet Sue Van Rensburg who introduced me to staff of the South African Environmental Observatory Network and other agents of the KwazuluNatal Wildlife. Currently, there are many on-going projects and research studies. The South African Environmental Observatory Network SAEON created since 2008 carries out diverse activities ranging from Hydrology, Ecology, and Geology to biodiversity and agro-forestry. Major focuses are on the Drakensberg area on the grasslands, forest and costal area and the Fynbosch in the Cape. While SAEON is trying to set more updated techniques and laboratories, there is focuson the Drakensberg and the Folded Mountains in the Capes in collaboration with many other universities and institutions. Dr. Jemma Finsch has been working a lot on Paleo-ecological studies in the wetlands; She also carried a lot of research in Easter Arc of Africa. Her work consisted mainly in characterizing both Eco environment and the hydrological status of the Drakensberg using probes. Paleo-environmental studies are one of the key activities that unify Forest, wetlands and grassland research and take into account climate change aspects. The relations between the different segments of the vegetation are being also established. Paleo-environment work in relation to the Drakensberg wetlands is also being investigated.

The Maloti-Drakensberg Trans frontier Project (MDTP), which includes five provinces of South Africa and one country Lesotho is also a key project that is being conducted in Mountain area. Major focuses are on biodiversity (tree, birds, frogs, reptiles and mammals and plants).

Interesting research studies have been carried out by Hylton Adie and Ian Rushworth. Forest plant distribution, abundance in the Drakensberg area has been studied. The distribution of Podocarpus a forest plant is being studies in the Drakensberg form the berg, grassland up to the cost to identify the eventual changes in the distribution pattern of the species and the reason that may explain the shifts. The dynamic of remarkable plant species in relation to shade, grassland and altitude importance is one of the major topics that are being evaluated. The role of plant nodules (symbiotic microorganisms) to understand the changes or shifts between forests and grasslands is also considered as well. Water availability in relation to the wetlands, forest and grassland occupies a major part of research in SAEON. Especially the expansion of Pine trees which can affect the water flow up to 10%. Pine tree plantation also affect to some extent the soil fertility and architecture by allowing erosion. Since they are invasive species, Pine tree and Eucalyptus can also invade natural environment and outcompete native species. The issue of land use and management is also at the centre of SAEON and KZN Wildlife concern.

Cape Town

In the Cape, SAEON also focus on biodiversity studies, monitoring of lands, and livestock. The water catchment project started since 1937 and the current activity is to try “reviving” the system that has stopped for over 10 years. Dr. Nicky Allsop is one of the Fynbos, which is a particular type of Mountain vegetation. According to her, a complex of Aracea (750), Proteacea (200) are found in the Cape. Potential collaborations with researchers in Mount Mulanje (Malawi) will improve knowledge in the diversity of the Fynbos. The same issue of Pine trees and soil vulnerability, which was described in the Drakensberg  is being addressed and Biocontrol system or early detection programs are being planned to contain invasive plant species.

South Africa is considered as an arid country; the issue of water availability in relation to community development and other water management systems such as cloud and fog precipitations are being studied as well in the Cape. In that regard projects and concepts have been submitted to the department of water affairs to promote techniques such as foggy precipitation for communities living in Mountain areas and the possibility to increase the number of water catchements in South Africa.

In term of Wild life conservation, KZN Wild life focus on the effect of climate change on the vegetation as well as the bio geographical corridors in the Drakensberg area. Activities such Conservation Planning process of vulnerable species or endangered species aiming at influencing policy-maker and managers are being conducted. Survey data in different biomes are being used to draw maps and characterize the distribution of animal and plants in South Africa using GIS techniques. In terms of collaboration, countries like Angola, Egypt, Lybia and Mozambique have benefitted a lot from the KZN expertise.

Climatologists are also very involved in Mountain research; in collaboration with the Water Research Commission Infrastructures, Agriculture Research Environment data are available and allow generating models. Models have been designed based of collected data (Evaporation, Hydrology) that maybe help in predicting the effects of climate change in water availability, food security. Although the issue of accessibility in the Mountains and Theft have been reported, data since 1970 are currently used as a work basis. Capacity building programs do exist with the Sudanese, Eritrea, Botswana and Swaziland governments. 

Major research outputs, achievements and relevant references (publications, reports)

In South Africa, meteorological data were stored since 1930’s.Therefore, many projects in relation to water, land and biodiversity management have been conducted. Rainfall stations and catchments that have been placed at different regions of South Africa since 1937 are still active, although there was a break of 6 years. Dr Mark Savage a climatologist at the University of Kwazulu Natal attested that climatic data have been used to design models for important crops such as Maize. We had the Chance to meet Prof. Bruce Ewitson at the University of Cape Town, he is actually working on data storage a collection in collaboration with other African Researchers. Although his focus is not mainly in Mountain areas because there are very few weather stations in Mountains, he is confident about the possibility of using those available data to generate accurate prediction Model. A website has been developped for that purpose http://cip.csag.uct.ac.za.

 Contacts and prospected collaborations

It is relevant to mention that collaborations exist between colleagues of Research Institutes (SAEON, Wildlife), Universities (University of Kwazulu Natal; University of Pretoria and University of Cape Town) in South Africa. There are few mentions or reports of collaborative research with other research groups in Africa. The University of Cape Town is a member of worldwide networks involving data modelling meteorological data CODEX, EUFP7 Capacity programs such as START. A database www.cip.csag.uct.ac.za has been developed for mapping rainfall distribution in Africa. 

 Contribution to the United Nations (UNFCCC, Rio+20) and country’s concern about the issue of Global Change Research in African Mountains.

South Africa is one of the leading country in the preparation of the Rio+20 draft for Africa. People who in charge of those important world events are not necessarily scientists or researchers. Although South Africa has a good number of IPCC stakeholders and Rio+20, there is a low reflection of research product in country’s annual report and United Nation conferences. The importance of research in South African Mountains holds its substance in the water issue with the Department of Water Affairs and the fact that Mountains constitutes the major source of water for South Africa and country like Lesotho. Therefore, many researchers have stressed the gap between research output and there translation into tangible actions or decisions by policy-makers.

South Africa is equipped with substantial institutions and research centres that cover all of environmental, geological, conservation, climatology and agro forestry aspects. Although all research studies are not exclusively focussed on Mountains, one shouldd admit that the altitude component and the importance of Mountains as water catchments are entirely included in their research. There is a consistent database of more than 50 years collection in relation to meteorological parameters that is available. However, the meeting revealed the poor connection between research output and policy-making. Hence, it is an urgent need to strengthen the link between researchers and deciders.

Fundamental research questions hypothesis that can be developed further as regional research proposals. 

During our survey in South Africa, a number of research questions have arisen; Here are some fundamental research questions that may be developped as research proposal or projects:

• How do we mitigate stream information or contradiction of meteorological data with National Policy?
• What are the land surface responses to charge of rain intensity, soil moisture, and river flows?
• Influence of Mountain in climate modelling
• The role of historical data
• Learning socio ecological system for water management and catchments taking into account water sewage to the dam in relation to population forming due to several activities (agriculture)
• Characterization of the fynbosch in African Mountains (Mont Mlanghe in Malawi)
• How do we control invasive plant species in water catchments and rivers?
• Development of Model for Crops: Data collection, Challenges and Weather generator
• Bridging Gaps between research and Policy in a changing Africa
• Comparison Approaches climate change Research North-South
• Land use Management in relation to water availability in Mountains area
• Occult precipitation or Cloud and Fog precipitation studies in African Mountains
• The Drakensberg’s vegetation is changing fast: are Brachens potential indicators of tree expansion?
• Assessing the CO2 emission in the Drakensberg vegetation

 

I wished that I had a dime for every time I heard people complain about how big the AGU meeting has grown! It is an enormous meeting: the number of participants this year was rumored to be around 22,000 people. Moscone South, the venue for the poster sessions, stretches one entire city block so that if you forget something at one end and remember it only at the other end, you are in for a hike back to retrieve your stuff! And shuttling back and forth between Moscone South and Moscone West, where the sessions are held, became a bit like a salmon run with hundreds of researchers streaming from one venue to the other. It was hard to advance if you are going against the flow.

But it is the very size of the AGU that makes it such a useful meeting. While not all the world's earth science researchers attend, a significant fraction do, including very strong representations from East Asia. And the AGU meeting management provides very good tools for navigating the 12,000 posters and 6,000 invited presentations.

I found so much relevant material at the AGU meeting that I have decided to break this blog entry into two parts. This first part will explain the informational resources that I have brought back from the meeting and highlight some of the talks that caught my attention. The second will explore some of themes that I saw emerging from the conference as relevant to MRI.

 

Informational Resources

 

The AGU Scientific Program webpage appears to be public so that you can search the program and create an itinerary (complete with abstracts) as I did (see below) even if you were not registered to attend.

 

In addition, poster presenters were encouraged to submit their posters to an "ePosters" site. Thus if you know the session code for the poster (and if the presenters uploaded their poster to the site, which alas many did not), one can download the poster! For instance the very first poster in my itinerary, C11B-0674. Glacier Surge-like signals detected by SAR-based technique in West Kunlun Shan, NW Tibet T. Yasuda; M. Furuya, has been uploaded to the site. By inserting the code "C11B-0674", I can download the poster itself.

 

Finally, the AGU has finally begun to record some of the presentations and has made them available via a Sessions on Demand button.  The AGU recorded numerous Union sessions and plenary lectures over the five days of the meeting. I suggest that you look at all five days to see what might be of interest to you. I particularly suggest the sessions GC43G Stephen Schneider session and the GC43H session on the history of global warming, both on 8 December 2011.

 

What exactly did I do? I searched the program using keywords such as "mountain", "Sierra", "Himalaya", "Tibet", and so on. After several iterations, I arrived at a nearly feasible itinerary focused on mountain-related topics, which runs to 254 pages and 18.3 MB. This itinerary kept me shuttling back and forth between sessions and posters for the whole time that I was there. I was extremely pleased with this modus operandi as I felt like I was able to focus right in on the most relevant work presented at the meeting. While I was not present on Friday,  I included Friday in my itinerary document so that the full five days were searched.

 

How can you use this mountain-focused itinerary of posters and papers? If you browse the first pages of the itinerary you will find the titles of papers and posters by session. Yes, there are 27 pages to this section of the document but as the papers and posters are organized by session title, you should be able to see quickly those that are of interest to you.

To see the abstract of any of the posters or papers listed there, simply search the rest of the document for the name of the first author and you will eventually find the abstract.

Papers and posters that made an impression on me

B12B-01. Mechanisms of Alpine Treeline Stability (Invited) W.K. Smith; G. Wieser; F. Holtmeier

I am always taken by papers that explain something at one level by mechanisms at another. Bill Smith assessed treeline dynamics by looking first at seeding survival, then at growth of seedling to tree stature and finally the facilitation of survival and growth by the presence of existing vegetation. Seedling survival was a question not just of carbon acquisition under low temperatures, high radiation loads and water stress but also of the processing of that carbon into plant structures. Snow played an important role is protecting seedlings and young trees but also presented physical challenges, especially abrasion, to growth above the snow layer into tree form. Finally, the presence of other plants greatly influenced the success of plants moving from one life stage to the next, a point also made by Lara Kueppers in one of her several papers or posters on the Alpine Treeline Warming Experiment on Niwot Ridge (though I can't seem to find mention of it in the abstracts). Smith emphasized that from an ecophysiological point of view, high elevations differ considerably from low-elevation polar environments in at least two ways - very high incoming radiation which often leads to photoinhibition of carbon processing, and very low partial pressures of CO2 with large impacts of fluxes. These two points seem directly relevant to the "why are mountains different" theme that was proposed by Mark Williams and Dave Schimel in Perth last year.

C23F-03. Mountain front precipitation accumulation over a 3300m elevation gradient from scanning LiDAR snow depth and in-situ instrumental measurements, southern Sierra Nevada, California P.B. Kirchner; R.C. Bales; J. Flanagan; K.N. Musselman; N.P. Molotch

I am always on the lookout for papers that examine the relationship between elevation and precipitation. Pete Kirchner created a very high resolution dataset on spring snow depths from the difference between snow-on and snow-off LIDAR measures, and found three distinction relationships between snow depth and elevation: a steep relationship below 2100m where precipitation was frequently mixed rain and snow, a shallower but highly significant relationship above 2100m (in non-forested areas), and then a flat relationship but with great variance at high elevation where snow redistribution was dominant.

Related talks included Danny Marks who reported on trends and projections of the rain-snow transition line and its impacts on runoff, a poster by Anders looking at elevation- precipitation relationships from different mountain regions around the world, and another poster by Minders looking at the mechanisms for ascent-forced convective precipitation over a mountainous island in the Caribbean. Minder also gave a good paper on the mechanisms for a lowering of snow line as the rain-snow transition zone approached mountain fronts.

 

A23E-06. Representation of the Sierra Barrier Jet in 11 years of a high-resolution dynamical reanalysis downscaling M.R. Hughes; P.J. Neiman; E. Sukovich; F.M. Ralph

Just prior to Minder's paper on declining snow line, I listened to a fascinating talk about a low level jet that runs parallel to the Sierra Nevada in California. For years I lived in the foothills of the Sierra, and never did I suspect that a thousand feet above me was a river of air moving parallel to the crest that forced upward incoming Pacific moisture and thus initiated precipitation well before the mountains. Several other talks in this session examined the nature and the impacts of the jet. I wondered if such jets were features in other mountain ranges as well, such as the Himalaya, that block prevailing winds.

 

H24D-05. Widespread hillslope gullying on the southeastern Tibetan Plateau: Human or climate-change induced? (Invited) J.D. Pelletier; J. Quade; R. Goble; M. Aldenderfer

Having seen these gullies myself, I had to go to this talk, which concluded quite simply that the advent of pastoralism with a reduction in vegetation cover was insufficient in itself to initiate gullying, as gullying had not begun in earlier, drier periods when the vegetation cover had been previously reduced. The gullying required as well on-going and increasing precipitation of the late Holocene to push the landscape over a threshold. I like this line of inquiry as I think climate change impacts on geomorphology in mountains is not well researched.

 

GC32B-03. The Modification of Orographic Snow Growth Processes by Cloud Nucleating Aerosols (Invited) W.R. Cotton; S. Saleeby

I listened to Bill Cotton four years ago at a meeting that MRI recorded in Boulder CO . I found his talk quite interesting then and so I expected a good talk this time. I was not disappointed. Here he talked about how aerosols, which can come from pollution, changed the rate at which snow flakes form and fall, so much so that horizontal winds push the precipitation further downwind often for 10's of kilometers. In the area of the study (on the Continental Divide in Colorado) this horizontal shift in precipitation moved significant amounts of precipitation from the Colorado River Basin on the Pacific side of the Divide to the North Platte River on the Atlantic side. Thus aerosol pollution can change not only the amount but also the location of precipitation.

 

GC32B-04. Hydrometeorological Scales Interactions in the Andes and their Impact on the Amazon Climate (Invited) R. Avissar; D. Medvigy; R.L. Walko

This talk showed the importance of mountains to the climate of surrounding areas. These researchers use the Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Model, which, besides featuring these coupled elements, models the entire planet using a variable sized grid. It thus produces regional climate predictions from a single model with a very fine grid spacing in regions of interest and larger grid spacing over the rest of the globe. Here they demonstrated that if one did not model the topography of the Andes at a sufficiently fine scale, then predictions of the inter-annual variability of precipitation over the Amazon were incorrect. I would have liked to have heard exactly what about the topography was important in getting better predictions of precipitation over the Amazon, but a little more digging in ISI will probably lead me to the answer.

 

C33F-08. Past peak water in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca: diagnosing the demise of glacier influence on stream discharge M. Baraer; B.G. Mark; J.M. McKenzie

Michel Baraer participated as well in the MRI KCW on 4 Dec in Berkeley. His talk here reviewed the expected time course for stream discharge from basins in which glaciers are receding, that is, an initial increase in discharge due to the melting ice volume and then when the glaciers are considerably small a reduction in discharge. He then reviewed discharge data to show that "peak water" had already occurred in the Cordillera Blanca of Peru, and that stream discharge was now on the descending limb of the expected curve. Thus the Cordillera Blanca is now where other major "glacierized" basins, such as those in the Alps, Central Asia and the Himalayas, may be in the future.

 

GC34A-08. Non-linear feedbacks between climate change, hydrologic partitioning, plant available water, and carbon cycling in montane forests (Invited) P.D. Brooks; M.E. Litvak; A.A. Harpold; N.P. Molotch; J.C. McIntosh; P.A. Troch; X. Zapata

Paul Brook's talk was one of eight talks in the CIRMOUNT-organized session: GC34A. Climate Change and Drought: Climatic Water Deficit and Water Balance in Mountain Systems: Biophysics, Ecohydrology, and Impacts.  All the talks here revolved around the ecological importance of potential evapotranspiration, actual evapotranspiration, and the difference between the two, climatic water deficit. All of these measures integrate precipitation and energy over the annual cycle and so are more pertinent than total annual precip or mean annual temperature at explaining the distribution and abundance of organism. I recommend that you look at all the abstracts in this session.

Brook's talk focused on some of the mechanisms related to snow accumulation and melt that strongly influenced water availability to vegetation. These include sublimation of snow, which is strongly influenced by tree canopy cover, and the depth of early snow pack as it influences the depth of frost in the soil and the soil's subsequent porosity at the time of spring snow melt. Once again, factors that one might not suspect at first (e.g. the degree of tree canopy or the timing and depth of first snowfall) turn out to be very important in the ecohydrology of mountains. Only when we know these will we be able to project better the impact of future climate and land cover change.

 

C44A-04. Past and future glacier changes the western Nyainqentanglha Range on the Tibetan Plateau (Invited) T. Bolch; F. Chen; W. Yang; M. Buchroithner; E. Huintjes; S. Kang; A. Linsbauer; F. Maussion; F. Paul; C. Schneider; D. Scherer; T. Yao

Tobias Bolch of the University of Zürich gave several talks at the AGU, all of them excellent. One (C43A-02) focused on a summary of glacier trends over the entire Himalaya, a definitive statement of which is essential in the face of the erroneous statements in the IPCC AR4. This talk (C44A-04) highlighted a method to assess glacial area and volume over time that is applicable at the scale of an entire mountain range. The relevance and clarity of the question was matched by the scope and completeness of the answer, representing to me the best of what research can do.

 

GC13C-06. Hurricanes in a Warming Climate (Invited) K. Emanuel

One of the reasons to go to the AGU is to hear talks from people who have made important contributions to the climate change debate (or to other scientific questions, such as the origin of life), even if their contribution has nothing to do with mountains. Kerry Emanuel updated his findings on the growing intensity of Atlantic hurricanes. He presented an amazing map of historic tropical cyclone paths, which clearly showed that the Pacific Ocean has many more tropical cyclones than the Atlantic ( a similar image is here) and leads one to wonder why the media focuses so strongly on Atlantic hurricanes.  He noted that there is no climate change signal apparent in the intensity of Pacific cyclones, which seems to vary with ENSO. However the intensity of Atlantic hurricanes does show a climate change signal, a combination of warming sea surface temperatures coupled with a cooling tropical tropopause. He emphasized that the damage from cyclones is overwhelming associated with a few high-intensity storms so even a minor increase in intensity would have major impacts on damage.

Despite some unfortunate last minute cancellations due to family affairs and illness the MRI Synthesis Workshop on Urbanization in High Mountain Regions (1-5 November) was a great success. Prakash Tiwari and his wife, Bhagwati Joshi, did an excellent job as local hosts, setting us up in the best hotel in Nainital, the Manu Maharani, a decision not without some poignancy as such luxury hotels are a key element in the development of some mountain cities and are not without their share of controversies.

The activities that really get traction are almost never the activities that you plan for, but rather are those that you think up on the fly. I noticed this years ago when back in California, I worked at a very innovative program called the California Forest and Rangeland Resource Assessment Program. It was, as with many things Californian, way ahead of its time, staffed with bright people and equipped with state-of-the-art GIS technology.

Session titles are now available for the IGBP Congress in March 2012 with abstracts due on 19 August 2011.

It's worth a few minutes of your time to peruse the list of sessions. There should shortly be a session on mountains in that list, but there are already some quite interesting sessions.

On Tuesday, 19 April 2011, most of the MRI office staff participated in the 12th Swiss Global Change Day,  an event sponsored by ProClim, the Swiss Academy of Science's platform for climate change. This event brings together in Bern nearly all the Swiss researchers working on global change and so is the premiere networking event for our community in Switzerland. It is definitely a "be-there-or-be-square" event!

We are making good progress of several of the Synthesis Workshops.

On 7 February 2011 MRI hosted a conference call with Julia Klein, Jill Baron,  Anne Nolin and me to discuss the coupled human-earth system theme. The

It's now almost four months since the MRI Strategy Session at Perth, Scotland, and time to take a first look at progress toward the activities discussed there.

Let me stress again that readers who want to learn more about talks and posters given by authors in bold text can access the abstracts by downloading the pdf of my itinerary and searching the document for the author's last name.

The first talk that I heard at the AGU Meeting was given by Dave Schimel, the head of NEON, and focused on climate controls on the carbon cycle. (You can find abstracts of the presentations by authors shown in bold by searching within the pdf of my itinerary at the AGU).

"Great format!", " A lot of fun!", "Great site and super food!"  Once MRI received accolades for its Key Contacts Workshop at the UCB Faculty Club on the Sunday before the start of the AGU.  Note: Look at the album "AGU 2010" for photos from the workshop and other photos taken at the AGU meeting itself. Part

From Nov 29 to Dec 3 I went back out to western China (photos are in an album called Lanzhou and Xining), which is really central China geographically, but certainly west of the cultural center of gravity of the country. I went first to Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province, and then Xining, the capital of Qinghai Province. These

I have been taking photos of nearly everyone I meet at the various Universities and Institutes where I give my "interdisciplinary earth system science" presentation. It is a way of connecting well the names and faces of people, which, given the nearly Teflon-like character of Chinese names in the context of my gray matter, might easily float apart in my brain.  This

Why did I go to Chengdu? First of all, I wanted to make connections at the CAS Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment. The Institute has five divisions: mountain hazards, mountain environmental change, mountain development, GIS and remote sensing applications and a special unit examining hazards in Sichuan Province.

It was an amazing trip from the GLP meeting in Tempe, Arizona to the second Third Pole Environment (TPE) Workshop in Kathmandu, Nepal. I had intended to return to Beijing for a few days and then continue on to Kathmandu, but an insufficient number of entries into China on my visa made that option impossible. And

Afternoon of the first day and all of the second day of the GLP Conference The first two afternoon plenaries, though given by relatively big names, were not noteworthy but the final plenary by Diane Liverman was meaty.

The first of the three days of the GLP conference at Arizona State University was a joint GLP- UGEC (Urbanization and Global Environmental Change) session. The main storyline of the first plenaries was:

Dr. Yao, the Director of the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research (ITP) confirmed his agreement with the interdisciplinary focus of my Visiting Professorship. My proposal was very clear in this regard but I felt that it was necessary to get his verbal confirmation. His commitment to my participation was confirmed in another way by his insistence that I participate in the second TPE workshop to be held in Kathmandu from 26 to 28 October.