Ongoing and Past Research

Meet Ameen Asbahi, a former Biology Vegetation Assistant intern through the Mosaics in Science Diversity Internship Program! Read more for his park story.

MARCH 2024 – Even national parks transform over time—sometimes in dramatic ways! Explore a new visual tour through 30 years of data from the NCCN’s landscape change monitoring program, which uses satellite remote sensing to track disturbances in Olympic, Mount Rainier, and the North Cascades. This analysis also offers clues to how climate change may be altering disturbance patterns in wilderness areas across the Pacific Northwest.

SEPTEMBER 2023 – Northern spotted owls are in trouble. Populations on the Olympic Peninsula fell by over 80% between 1995 and 2017; in Mount Rainier National Park, they declined nearly 75% over the same period. In response to declining numbers, autonomous recording units have become the front line of monitoring across the species’ range. This technology offers unique advantages, but challenges to the species survival remain.

Citizen scientist volunteers help sample amphibian populations throughout Mount Rainier National Park along with participating in the Dragonfly Mercury Project.

SEPTEMBER 2023 – Over two years, teams at four parks in the North Coast & Cascades Network hiked hundreds of miles to collect samples of environmental DNA (eDNA) from park waters. These delicate samples promise to greatly expand our understanding of aquatic ecosystems, answering important questions about threatened species, emerging pathogens, ecological invaders, and more. What's next for this project?

AUGUST 2022 – Mount Rainier’s subalpine meadows are a glimmering kaleidoscope of flora, from the showy to the understated. This strikingly beautiful diversity is also a key to surviving the harsh reality of life in the narrow belt above where the trees end and below where the glaciers begin. To understand the impact of climate change on these interconnected communities, researchers carry out long-term monitoring on subalpine vegetation.

JANUARY 2023 – Pacific Northwest forests are vital living systems, cycling huge quantities of carbon and nutrients, filtering pollutants from waterways, and serving as a living bulwark against climate change. However, forests worldwide are threatened by increasing warming and drought, leading to tree die-offs. A new study asks the question: Is this pattern playing out in the mature and old-growth forests of western Washington?

The Dragonfly Mercury Project (DMP) is a national surveillance, monitoring, and research program that brings together citizen engagement and education with scientific efforts to understand mercury (Hg) risks to protected areas. 2020 was the seventh year that Mount Rainier NP participated in the DMP!

Through the sampling of environmental DNA (eDNA) in water, park staff can gather a full picture of where fish and amphibians are present in Mount Rainier National Park.

Mount Rainier National Park is collaborating with partners to understand water temperatures within glacially-fed streams. As climate change causes warming water temperatures, Mount Rainier streams serve as a refuge for fish and other cold water dependent aquatic species.