Publications
Below are publications associated with the Southwest Biological Science Center's research.
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Filter Total Items: 1310
Beyond traditional ecological restoration on the Colorado Plateau
The Colorado Plateau is one of North America's five major deserts, encompassing 340,000 km2 of the western U.S., and offering many opportunities for restoration relevant to researchers and land managers in drylands around the globe. The Colorado Plateau is comprised of vast tracts of public land managed by local, state, and federal agencies that oversee a wide range of activities (e.g., mineral an
Authors
Daniel E. Winkler, Dana M. Backer, Jayne Belnap, John B. Bradford, Bradley J. Butterfield, Stella M. Copeland, Michael C. Duniway, Akasha M. Faist, Stephen E. Fick, Scott L. Jensen, Andrea T. Kramer, Rebecca Mann, Robert Massatti, Molly L. McCormick, Seth M. Munson, Peggy Olwell, Steve D. Parr, Alix Pfennigwerth, Adrienne M. Pilmanis, Bryce A. Richardson, Ella Samuel, Kathy See, Kristina E. Young, Sasha C. Reed
How many measurements are required to construct an accurate sand budget in a large river? Insights from analyses of signal and noise
Morphological change in river channels is frequently evaluated in the context of mass balance sediment budgets. In a closed sediment budget, measurements of sediment influx and efflux are coupled with measured changes in channel topography to provide both spatial and temporal resolution, and independent estimates of the mass balance. For sediment budgets constructed over long river segments (~10 c
Authors
Paul Grams, Daniel D. Buscombe, David Topping, Matthew Kaplinski, Joseph Hazel
Probabilistic models of seafloor composition using multispectral acoustic backscatter: The benthic detectorists
We describe and compare two probabilistic models
for task-specific seafloor characterization based on multispectral
backscatter. We examine whether generative or discriminative
approaches to supervised seafloor characterization do better
at harnessing the greatly increased information about seafloor
substrate composition that is encoded in the backscattering
response across multiple frequencies. A
Authors
Daniel Buscombe, Paul E. Grams, Matthew Kaplinski
Mapping and measuring aeolian sand dunes with photogrammetry and LiDAR from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and multispectral satellite imagery on the Paria Plateau, AZ, USA
The Paria Plateau is a potentially important but relatively unstudied aeolian sand source area in the Grand Canyon region of Arizona, USA. This study used unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) - based LiDAR and structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry to produce high-resolution topographic models of aeolian dunes on the plateau. We combined the dune topography data with a high-resolution satellite image
Authors
Daniel Solazzo, Joel B. Sankey, Temuulen T. Sankey, Seth M. Munson
Patterns of longer-term climate change effects on CO2 efflux from biocrusted soils differ from those observed in the short term
Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are predicted to be sensitive to the increased temperature and altered precipitation associated with climate change. We assessed the effects of these factors on soil carbon dioxide (CO2) balance in biocrusted soils using a sequence of manipulations over a 9-year period. We warmed biocrusted soils by 2 and, later, by 4°C to better capture updated forecasts of futu
Authors
Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi, Sasha C. Reed, Edmund E. Grote, Jayne Belnap
Geomorphology and vegetation change at Colorado River campsites, Marble and Grand Canyons, Arizona
Sandbars along the Colorado River are used as campsites by river runners and hikers and are an important recreational resource within Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Regulation of the flow of river water through Glen Canyon Dam has reduced the amount of sediment available to be deposited as sandbars, has reduced the magnitude and frequency of flooding events, and has increased the magnitude o
Authors
Daniel R. Hadley, Paul E. Grams, Matthew A. Kaplinski, Joseph E. Hazel, Roderic A. Parnell
Landscape pivot points and responses to water balance in national parks of the southwest US
A recent drying trend that is expected to continue in the southwestern US underscores the need for site‐specific and near real‐time understanding of vegetation vulnerability so that land management actions can be implemented at the right time and place.We related the annual integrated normalized difference vegetation index (iNDVI), a proxy for vegetation production, to water balance across landsca
Authors
David P. Thoma, Seth M. Munson, Dana L. Witwicki
Soil water dynamics at 15 locations distributed across a desert landscape: insights from a 27‐yr dataset
Desert ecosystems are primarily limited by water availability. Within a climatic regime, topography, soil characteristics, and vegetation are expected to determine how the combined effects of precipitation, temperature, and evaporative demand of the atmosphere shape the spatial and temporal patterns of water within the soil profile and across a landscape. To forecast how desert landscapes may resp
Authors
Michael C. Duniway, Matthew D. Petrie, Debra P. C. Peters, John P. Anderson, Keith Crossland, Jeffrey E. Herrick
Landscape-scale wildlife species richness metrics to inform wind and solar energy facility siting: An Arizona case study
The juxtaposition of wildlife and wind or solar energy facility infrastructure can present problems for developers, planners, policy makers, and management agencies. Guidance on siting of these renewable energy facilities may help identify potential wildlife-facility conflicts with species of regulatory or economic concern. However, existing spatial guidance usually does not consider all wildlife
Authors
Kathryn A. Thomas, Christopher Jarchow, Terence R. Arundel, Pankaj Jamwal, Amanda Borens, Charles A. Drost
Insights from long-term ungrazed and grazed watersheds in a salt desert Colorado Plateau ecosystem
Dryland ecosystems cover over 41% of the earth’s land surface, and living within these important ecosystems are approximately 2 billion people, a large proportion of whom are subsistence agropastoralists. Improper grazing in drylands can negatively impact ecosystem productivity, soil conservation, hydrologic processes, downstream water quantity and quality, and ultimately human health and economic
Authors
Michael C. Duniway, Erika L. Geiger, Tamera J. Minnick, Susan L. Phillips, Jayne Belnap
Fungal loop transfer of nitrogen depends on biocrust constituents and nitrogen form
Besides performing multiple ecosystem services individually and collectively, biocrust constituents may also create biological networks connecting spatially and temporally distinct processes. In the fungal loop hypothesis rainfall variability allows fungi to act as conduits and reservoirs, translocating resources between soils and host plants. To evaluate the extent to which biocrust species compo
Authors
Zachary T. Aanderud, Trevor B. Smart, Nan Wu, Alexander S. Taylor, Yuanming Zhang, Jayne Belnap
Hydrological regime and climate interactively shape riparian vegetation composition along the Colorado River, Grand Canyon
QuestionHow closely do riparian plant communities track hydrological and climatic variation in space, and how do interactions among hydrological and climatic filters influence success of flow management strategies?LocationGrand Canyon, Arizona, USA.MethodsMulti‐year vegetation surveys were conducted across three hydrological zones – active channel, active floodplain and inactive floodplain – withi
Authors
Bradley J. Butterfield, Emily C. Palmquist, Barbara Ralston