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Glacier National Park is not only a beautiful, breathtaking site to see, full of glaciers, Rocky Mountains, pristine forests, and more, but there is also so much to do. Site-seeing, spotting unique creatures, and fishing are only a few activities a tourist can do. At Glacier National Park, one can also go camping, boating, hiking, and even camping. Driving the Going-to-the-Sun Road is an exhilarating experience, one would not want to miss. Hurry! The glaciers are slowing melting and one must visit the park before the glaciers have completely melted from this precious land, home to many organisms.

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Want to plan your trip to this beautiful park, and learn more? Click this link.

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REVIEW WEATHER DATA:

The Continental Divide runs through the middle of the park from north to south, creating two distinct climates. The lush west side is the edge of the Pacific Northwest rainforest, while the eastern front is drier, cooler, and windier. Be prepared for extreme conditions on either side.

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Explore Glacier National Park - Glacier National Park Conservancy

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REVIEW WEATHER DATA: The Continental Divide runs through the middle of the park from north to south, creating two distinct climates. The lush west side is the edge of the Pacific Northwest rainforest, while the eastern front is drier, cooler, and windier. Be prepared for extreme conditions on either side.

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Glacier National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

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A showcase of melting glaciers, alpine meadows, carved valleys, and spectacular lakes. With over 700 miles of trails, Glacier is a paradise for adventurous visitors seeking wilderness steeped in human history. Relive the days of old through historic chalets, lodges, and the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road.

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Glacier National Park is an extremely biodiverse park, with acres upon acres of space for organisms to inhabit. With such a wide variety of plants and animals, it can be know how healthy this environment truly is. Despite how biodiverse this park is, there are serious evidence of climate change deeply affecting this park. The glaciers are melting away and shrinking away faster every year. This extreme climate could eventually lead to killing off organisms that rely on the cold temperatures, and other resources from the glaciers. Climate change is a serious issues that is worsening every year at Glacier National Park.

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An ecological succession is the process that describes how the structure of a biological community changes over time. Rocks that are scoured or deposited from retreating glaciers are an example of primary succession. This is because in glaciers there is either a lack of soil, or a lack of soil that can sustain life. Seeds then often land in life-sustaining areas and germinate. When these first species, such as lichen or weeds, eventually decompose, they become more soil for more complex plants to grow. If this were to happen in the park, there would be an increase in biodiversity, and population density in the national park. More diverse lichen, mosses, wildflowers, etc. would grow and give more energy to more consumers (bighorn sheep, mountain goats, shrews, etc.), increasing their population too.

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Mountain lions are one of the largest predators in the park. They have many prey including deer, elk, moose, bighorn sheep, and smaller animals too. Due to the fact that mountain lions are such large predators, they help to maintain the population of many species in Glacier National Park.

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An example of predator and prey are bats and their insect diet. During their nocturnal periods, bats are able to consume one third of their body weight in insects. Clearly, bats play a significant role in maintaining the population of many different insect species found in this park.

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An example of a biogeochemical cycle that is relevant to this park is the precipitation/water cycle. This process cycles water through the ecosystem by which water evaporates from rivers, lakes, or melted snow. Condensation then occurs in the air, and precipitation is released back into the environment. Rain, snow, or ice are precipitation seen in this park. Climate change, which is largely caused by human pollution, plays a huge factor in the amount of precipitation in the park. Warmer air temperatures has led to more rainfall than snowfall. As this continues, there will be snow and glacier loss, reducing groundwater recharge and summer runoff. This will eventually lower water levels in streams, lakes, rivers, and wetlands, reducing the resources and space for species inhabiting these aquatic areas.

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Endangered in all parts of the world, gray wolves can be found in this national park. Factors such as climate change, and human interaction have been threatening factors to gray wolves. As of recently, gray wolves have been taken off the endangered species list but their populations must still be protected. Thankfully, their population is growing and there are 1,675 gray wolves found in the Northern Rockies.

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Keystone species are species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend, such that if it were removed the ecosystem would change drastically. An extremely crucial keystone species, in the park, is the whitebark pine, which would fall in the producer section of this food web. This pine supports the majority of the biodiversity in this region. It is the food source for more than 19 animal species, including grizzly bears. If the whitebark pine was removed from this ecosystem, the biodiversity and the species richness of the park would decrease significantly. Although whitebark pine is not the only food source for grizzly bears, it is possible that the removal of whitebark could turn grizzly bears from threatened to endangered species.

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Biotic factors are limiting factors that are LIVING. Nonnative species, especially nonnative plants that have invaded or been introduced into this environment have severely impacted the environment. Examples of this nonnative plants include leafy spurge, yellow toadflax, spotted knapweed. These plants have threatened the biodiversity of native plants by overpopulating their land, stealing their resources, etc.

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Abiotic factors are limiting factors that are NONLIVING. An example of an abiotic factor in the park would be the glaciers/rivers (when melted). Large predators such as bears rely heavily on the salmon found in these rivers. When glaciers melt, fish are transferred into lakes and rivers. If the glacial water does not transfer the fish into rivers, then the bears would have no food, decreasing their energy and population.

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Glacier National Park is Melting Away...

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Glacier National Park is Melting Away...

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Photo Evidence: Glacier National Park Is Melting Away | National Geographic

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Informative Video on Glacier National Park

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Informative Video on Glacier National Park

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Limiting factors are biotic (living) or abiotic (nonliving) factors in an environment that limit population growth. Limiting factors can be either density-dependent, or density-independent. Density-dependent factors are biotic or abiotic limiting factors that rely on the density of the ecosystem's population. Density-independent factors do not rely on the population density.
Ex:
Density-dependent: Nonnative organisms, such as plants and fish, have invaded or have been introduced to the ecosystem that has dramatically affected the population of organisms.

Density-independent: Climate change has made a huge impact on the ecosystem leading to less ice and more forest fires, affecting population growth to many organisms.

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Producers: ferns, mosses, wildflowers, etc.
Consumers: Yellowstone checkerspot butterflies (primary consumer), lake trout (tertiary consumer), pygmy shrew (secondary consumer), grizzly bear (apex predator), lynx (secondary/tertiary consumer), bighorn sheep (primary consumer), honey-brown winter mushroom (consumer), etc.

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Glacier National Park is located in Montana, USA, extending over into Canadian territory. It is full of crystal blue lakes, pristine forests, glacial mountains, and glaciers. This national park consists of temperate forest and tundra biomes.