Now and When

Now

Today’s alpine meadows flourish with a variety of inter-dependent plants and animals. Arctic ground squirrels, hoary marmots, pikas, and all-white, golden-horned Dall sheep graze the mountain meadows. Golden eagles and gyrfalcons hunt the slopes, soaring over horned larks, wheatears and other migrant nesting birds

When

As habitat changes, species like pikas and marmots vanish, ground squirrels decline in numbers. Traditional nesting birds disappear, and new species move in. Shrubby plants, like dwarf birch, willows, and alders, colonize formerly open terrain, replacing alpine wildflowers and low-growing plants. Large herbivores, like moose, expand their range.