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Climate Zone Delineation: Evaluating Approaches for Use in Natural Resource Management

Environmental Management volume 49, pages 1076–1091 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Recent efforts by the United States Department of the Interior (DOI) have the potential to make climate zones the basic geographic units guiding monitoring and resource management programs in the western U.S. We evaluated a new National Park Service approach for delineating climate zones that will likely be a model for other DOI agencies. Using the test case of the Greater Yellowstone Area in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, we conducted three separate analyses, each based on a different dataset. Cluster analysis of 1971–2000 temperature and precipitation normals grouped weather stations according to similarities in seasonal patterns. Principal Components Analysis (PCAs) of 1895–2008 monthly data grouped stations by similarities in long-term variability. Finally, an analysis of snow data further subdivided the zones defined by the other two analyses. The climate zones produced by the cluster analysis and the PCAs were roughly similar to each other, but the differences were significant. The two sets of zones may be useful for different applications. For example, studies that analyze links between climate patterns and the demography of threatened species should focus on the results of the PCAs. The broad similarity among results produced by the different approaches supported the application of these zones in climate-related monitoring and analysis. However, since choices in data and methodology can affect the details of maps depicting zone boundaries, there are practical limitations to their use.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this work was provided by the Greater Yellowstone Network (Bozeman, Montana), a division of the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program. We thank Tim Kittell (UC Boulder) for advice on data analysis and Stacey Ostermann-Kelm (National Park Service) for helpful discussions during all phases of this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Walking Shadow Ecology, PO Box 1085, Gardiner, MT, 59030, USA

    Michael T. Tercek

  2. Big Sky Institute, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, 59771, USA

    Michael T. Tercek

  3. Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA

    Stephen T. Gray & Christopher M. Nicholson

  4. Water Resources Data System and Wyoming State Climate Office, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA

    Stephen T. Gray & Christopher M. Nicholson

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  1. Michael T. Tercek
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  2. Stephen T. Gray
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  3. Christopher M. Nicholson
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Correspondence to Michael T. Tercek.

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Tercek, M.T., Gray, S.T. & Nicholson, C.M. Climate Zone Delineation: Evaluating Approaches for Use in Natural Resource Management. Environmental Management 49, 1076–1091 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-012-9827-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-012-9827-4

Keywords

  • Climate zonation
  • National Park Service
  • Yellowstone National Park
  • Grand Teton National Park
  • Climate monitoring
  • Ecological impacts of climate