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For decades, the Mountain Research Station has been a stepping-off point for researchers studying plant and animal ecology, biogeochemistry, hydrology, geomorphology and atmospheric science. Much of that research takes place on rugged, nearby Niwot Ridge. Within that area lies every type of alpine and montane ecosystem that exists in the southern Rocky Mountains. That abundance has made Niwot Ridge a rare and important ‘living laboratory.’

Researchers in the Taylor Lab study interactions between higher-elevation dwelling mountain chickadees and the closely related lower-elevation dwelling black capped chickadees. A recent study in Global Change Biology investigates barriers that prevent the two species from mating and what happens when they do mate and produce offspring.

CU ����Vlog�ƽ��’s Mountain Research Station has a three-pronged mission—host some of the most influential and long-running ecological research in the world, give students a peerless education in mountain environments, and link the public to learning about important ecosystems.

Just north of Nederland, about 26 miles from ����Vlog�ƽ��, is CU ����Vlog�ƽ��’s “classroom in the sky”—the Mountain Research Station. It is home to some of the world’s longest-running alpine research, from how vegetation responds to wildfires, to how wildlife responds to climate change, to the changing composition of the soil itself.

For more than 40 years, scientists from the Niwot Ridge Long-Term Ecological Research program have worked to better understand high-alpine ecosystems in a warming world. Thanks to a new $7.65 million, six-year grant from the National Science Foundation, that work will continue, making Niwot Ridge LTER the longest-running NSF-funded program at CU ����Vlog�ƽ��.

Birds that can live at 14,000 feet and also breed at sea level might have evolved more quickly than previously thought, finds research led by Scott Taylor. The findings add to scientists’ understanding of biodiversity and may also help inform conservation decisions in the face of human-caused climate change.

Scott Taylor (INSTAAR & EBIO) is one 17 CU ����Vlog�ƽ�� faculty members selected by the Research and Innovation Office as their 2023 RIO Faculty Fellows cohort. The program supports faculty in achieving their research/innovation goals and promotes collaboration, all through tailored training, experiential learning and leadership development opportunities. Taylor and his cohort kick off 2023 with an intensive three-day retreat in January, followed by several more focused retreats and a variety of informal networking activities.

Hybrids of two common North American songbirds, the black-capped and mountain chickadee, are more likely to be found in places where humans have altered the landscape, finds new research by a team including INSTAAR Scott Taylor. The study is the first to positively correlate hybridization in any species with human-caused landscape changes. It also contradicts a long-standing assumption that these two birds rarely hybridize.

Twenty-six miles west of ����Vlog�ƽ��, scientists and students at the Mountain Research Station have gathered since 1920 to conduct some of the world’s most unique studies on high-altitude ecology and, more recently, how climate change is altering it. As it celebrates its 100th anniversary this month, its director is already planning for the next 100.

Redpolls, an Arctic-dwelling finch that flies south only sporadically, all share a characteristic red marking on their heads. But some redpolls are white with small bills, while others are larger and have whiter bills. Due to these differences, scientists initially thought that there were three different species of redpoll. However, new genetic research led by CU ����Vlog�ƽ�� and including INSTAAR Scott Taylor has found that these apparently different species are in fact the same, but have a “supergene” that controls differences in morphology and plumage color.