Southwest Biological Science Center
Publications
Contemporary human impacts on alpine ecosystems: the direct and indirect effects of human-induced climate change and land use
Alpine ecosystems account for ca. 3 % of terrestrial habitats yet, along with adjacent mountain systems, provide water resources to nearly half of the world’s human population. Approximately 20 % of humans live in or near mountain areas, making it inherently important to understand current impacts on these systems. Here, I review literature...
Winkler, Daniel E. A comparison of riparian vegetation sampling methods along a large, regulated river
Monitoring riparian vegetation cover and species richness is an important component of assessing change and understanding ecosystem processes. Vegetation sampling methods determined to be the best option in other ecosystems (e.g., desert grasslands and arctic tundra) may not be the best option in multilayered, species rich, heterogeneous riparian...
Palmquist, Emily C.; Sterner, Sarah; Ralston, Barbara Connectivity of mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) populations in southern California: A genetic survey of a mobile ungulate in a highly fragmented urban landscape
Urbanization is a substantial force shaping the genetic and demographic structure of natural populations. Urban development and major highways can limit animal movements, and thus gene flow, even in highly mobile species. Characterizing varying species responses to human activity and fragmentation is important for maintaining genetic continuity in...
Fraser, Devaughn; Ironside, Kirsten E.; Wayne, Robert K.; Boydston, Erin E. Establishment of Salsola tragus on aeolian sands: A Southern Colorado Plateau case study
Russian-thistle (Salsola tragus L.), is a nonnative, C4 photosynthesizing, annual plant that infests disturbed and natural areas in the arid U.S. Southwest. Land managers of natural areas may need to decide whether a S. tragus infestation is potentially harmful and whether it should be actively managed. One factor informing that decision is an...
Thomas, Kathryn A.; Hiza, Margaret Incorporating social-ecological considerations into basin-wide responses to climate change in the Colorado River Basin
(Bair) During the last 50 years, construction of dams in the western United States declined. This is partly because of increasing recognition of varied and unintended social-ecological consequences of dams. Today, resource managers are recognizing the wide array of tradeoffs and are including a more diverse group of stakeholders in decision making...
Bair, Lucas; Yackulic, Charles B.; Schmidt, John C.; Perry, Denielle M.; Kirchhoff, Christine J.; Chief, Karletta; Colombi, Benedict J. Reducing sampling uncertainty in aeolian research to improve change detection
Measurements of aeolian sediment transport support our understanding of mineral dust impacts on Earth and human systems and assessments of aeolian process sensitivities to global environmental change. However, sample design principles are often overlooked in aeolian research. Here, we use high‐density field measurements of sediment mass flux...
Webb, Nicholas P.; Chappell, Adrian; Edwards, Brandon L.; McCord, Sarah E.; Van Zee, Justin W.; Cooper, Bradley F.; Courtright, Ericha M.; Duniway, Michael C.; Sharratt, Brenton; Tedela, Negussie H; Toledo, David Geomorphic change and biogeomorphic feedbacks in a dryland river: The Little Colorado River, Arizona, USA
The Little Colorado River in Arizona, U.S.A. has undergone substantial geomorphic change since the early 1900s. We analyzed hydrologic and geomorphic data at different spatial and temporal scales to determine the type, magnitude, and rate of geomorphic change that has occurred since the early 20th century. Since the 1920s, there have been 4...
Dean, David; Topping, David Temporal and abiotic fluctuations may be preventing successful rehabilitation of soil-stabilizing biocrust communities
Land degradation is a persistent ecological problem in many arid and semi-arid systems globally (drylands hereafter). Most instances of dryland degradation include some form of soil disturbance and/or soil erosion, which can hinder vegetation establishment and reduce ecosystem productivity. To combat soil erosion, researchers have identified a...
Young, Kristina E.; Bowker, Matthew A.; Reed, Sasha C.; Duniway, Michael C.; Belnap, Jayne Methane emissions from artificial waterbodies dominate the carbon footprint of irrigation: A study of transitions in the food-energy-water-climate nexus (Spain, 1900-2014)
Irrigation in the Mediterranean region has been used for millennia and has greatly expanded with industrialization. Irrigation is critical for climate change adaptation, but it is also an important source of greenhouse gas emissions. This study analyzes the carbon (C) footprint of irrigation in Spain, covering the complete historical process of...
Aguilera, Eduardo; Vila-Traver, Jaime; Deemer, Bridget; Infante-Amate, Juan; Guzmán, Gloria I.; González de Molina, Manuel Spatiotemporal patterns of cheatgrass invasion in Colorado Plateau National Parks
Exotic annual grasses are transforming native arid and semi-arid ecosystems globally by accelerating fire cycles that drive vegetation state changes. Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), a particularly widespread and aggressive exotic annual grass, is a key management target in national parks of the western United States due to its impacts on...
Bishop, Tara B.B.; Munson, Seth M.; Gill, Richard; Belnap, Jayne; St. Clair, Samuel B.; Petersen, Steven L. Hydrologic function of rapidly induced biocrusts
In dryland ecosystems, land degradation and erosion pose severe threats to ecosystem productivity and human wellbeing. Bio‐inoculation of degraded soils with native biological soil crusts ('biocrusts') is a promising yet relatively untested means to improve soil stability and hydrologic function (i.e. increase infiltration and reduce runoff). In a...
Fick, Stephen E.; Barger, Nichole N.; Duniway, Michael C. Relative prediction intervals reveal larger uncertainty in 3D approaches to predictive digital soil mapping of soil properties with legacy data
Fine scale maps of soil properties enable efficient land management and inform earth system models. Recent efforts to create soil property maps from field observations tend to use similar tree-based machine learning interpolation approaches, but often deal with depth of predictions, validation, and uncertainty differently. One of the main...
Nauman, Travis; Duniway, Michael C.