Southwest Biological Science Center

Novel forms of drought are emerging globally, due to climate change, shifting teleconnection patterns, expanding human water use, and a history of human influence on the environment that increases the probability of transformational ecological impacts. 

This season's edition of the Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest Newsletter contains recent program highlights including research updates, new projects, field updates and more.

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Stay tuned for more on the National Seed Strategy Progress Report. The reporting portal is now closed. For more information, contact Molly McCormick mmccormick@usgs.gov

RestoreNet is a networked ecological experiment testing restoration treatments across the arid Southwest. Seven experimental sites were installed in the Summer of 2018 on the rangelands of Northern Arizona. The experiments tested seed mixes with various treatments to increase revegetation success (see photos above). These are the results after the first year.

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A new study describes how food web dynamics influence the movement of mercury throughout the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. This new research from the U.S. Geological Survey and partners represents one of the first times that the movement and fate of mercury has been traced through an entire food web.

Three recently published papers by the Southwest Biological Science Center illustrate how genetics can aid in plant restoration efforts in the arid American West. Collectively, the papers reveal genetic variation of a bunchgrass species used in restoration efforts, evidence for hybridization between two species of grass used in restoration, and a discussion of seed transfer zones

Southwest Biological Science Center and National Park Service personnel were featured in a KSL TV story about a hidden, pristine grassland in Canyonlands National Park that is used for scientific study.

Weighing costs relative to outcomes: woody and invasive plant removal followed by seeding in shrublands and woodlands.

New study by RAMPS researchers examines how the costs of vegetation treatments related to outcomes. 

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This season's edition of the Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest Newsletter contains recent program highlights including research updates from our RestoreNet experiment, recently awarded funding, field updates and more.

To subscribe to our newsletter, please visit: ...

Moisture deficit affects ecological processes and land management interventions, such as restoration of native vegetation. 

A USGS press release was published today highlighting a paper describing possible limitations of big sagebrush restoration in the American West after wildfires.