New research published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment examines how climate change affects mountain environments differently depending on elevation. The study, released on November 25, includes contributions from John Knowles, an assistant professor at Montana State University’s Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences.
Knowles is one of nearly two dozen international authors who collaborated on the paper titled “Elevation-dependent climate change in mountain environments.” The project was led by British scientist Nick Pepin and builds upon a 2015 publication that first identified the concept of elevation-dependent warming (EDW), which refers to faster temperature changes at higher elevations.
“Mountains are important for so many reasons,” said Knowles. “They’re sentinels of change, meaning we often detect changes first in mountain environments before lowlands.”
The study highlights that mountains provide essential ecological resources such as wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities. They also play a critical role in water storage, holding precipitation as snowpack during winter and releasing it gradually into rivers and lakes throughout the summer.
“These research findings are important,” said Bob Peterson, head of MSU’s Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences. “They have direct implications for Montana towns, farms, ranches and industries, all of which need to make challenging decisions about water availability and use.”
Researchers focused on how precipitation patterns and surface albedo—the reflectivity or brightness of the landscape—vary with elevation. The paper updates air temperature trends for mountain ranges worldwide and points out that factors like humidity, wind, aerosols, and radiation remain understudied in these regions.
Knowles explained that snow has the highest albedo among natural surfaces; as snowpack melts, areas become darker and absorb more heat energy, intensifying warming effects.
He emphasized the significance of this work for Montana: “I like to think of mountains as nature’s water towers. They accumulate and store precipitation as snow all winter long and then dispense it in nature’s drip irrigation system all summer long,” he said. “In Montana, mountains are emblematic of our state. They provide the water for rivers that represent the lifeblood of our agricultural and recreation economies.”
Knowles noted that Montana State University offers unique opportunities for this kind of research due to its land-grant mission supporting agriculture and natural sciences. This allows comprehensive exploration into mountain ecosystems relevant to both natural sustainability and managed systems vital to Montanans.
