Publications
Below are publications associated with the Southwest Biological Science Center's research.
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Filter Total Items: 1307
Cumulative drought and land-use impacts on perennial vegetation across a North American dryland region
Question
The decline and loss of perennial vegetation in dryland ecosystems due to global change pressures can alter ecosystem properties and initiate land degradation processes. We tracked changes of perennial vegetation using remote sensing to address the question of how prolonged drought and land-use intensification have affected perennial vegetation cover across a desert region in the early
Authors
Seth M. Munson, A. Lexine Long, Cynthia Wallace, Robert H. Webb
A review of precipitation and temperature control on seedling emergence and establishment for ponderosa and lodgepole pine forest regeneration
The persistence of ponderosa pine and lodgepole pine forests in the 21st century depends to a large extent on how seedling emergence and establishment are influenced by driving climate and environmental variables, which largely govern forest regeneration. We surveyed the literature, and identified 96 publications that reported data on dependent variables of seedling emergence and/or establishment
Authors
Matthew Petrie, A.M. Wildeman, John B. Bradford, R.M. Hubbard, W.K. Lauenroth
Demographic response of northern spotted owls to barred owl removal
Federally listed as threatened in 1990 primarily because of habitat loss, the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) has continued to decline despite conservation efforts resulting in forested habitat being reserved throughout its range. Recently, there is growing evidence the congeneric invasive barred owl (Strix varia) may be responsible for the continued decline primarily by excludin
Authors
V. Lowell Diller, Keith A. Hamm, Desiree A Early, David W Lamphear, Katie M. Dugger, Charles B. Yackulic, Carl J. Schwarz, Peter C. Carlson, Trent L. McDonald
Nutrient resorption helps drive intra-specific coupling of foliar nitrogen and phosphorus under nutrient-enriched conditions
Aims
Plant biomass growth, storage, and decomposition connect nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) cycles, yet we know relatively little about the dynamics of such coupling under nutrient enriched conditions, and our understanding of the interactive relationships between plant N and P in drylands remains particularly poor.
Methods
In a semiarid steppe of northern China, we examined the effects of si
Authors
Lü Xiao-Tao, Sasha C. Reed, Qiang Yu, Xing-Guo Han
Production of greenhouse-grown biocrust mosses and associated cyanobacteria to rehabilitate dryland soil function
Mosses are an often-overlooked component of dryland ecosystems, yet they are common members of biological soil crust communities (biocrusts) and provide key ecosystem services, including soil stabilization, water retention, carbon fixation, and housing of N2 fixing cyanobacteria. Mosses are able to survive long dry periods, respond rapidly to precipitation, and reproduce vegetatively. With these q
Authors
Anita Antoninka, Matthew A. Bowker, Sasha C. Reed, Kyle Doherty
Microbial community assembly and metabolic function during mammalian corpse decomposition
Vertebrate corpse decomposition provides an important stage in nutrient cycling in most terrestrial habitats, yet microbially mediated processes are poorly understood. Here we combine deep microbial community characterization, community-level metabolic reconstruction, and soil biogeochemical assessment to understand the principles governing microbial community assembly during decomposition of mous
Authors
Jessica L Metcalf, Zhenjiang Zech Xu, Sophie Weiss, Simon Lax, Will Van Treuren, Embriette R. Hyde, Se Jin Song, Amnon Amir, Peter Larsen, Naseer Sangwan, Daniel Haarmann, Greg C Humphrey, Gail Ackermann, Luke R Thompson, Christian Lauber, Alexander Bibat, Catherine Nicholas, Matthew J Gebert, Joseph F Petrosino, Sasha C. Reed, Jack A Gilbert, Aaron M Lynne, Sibyl R Bucheli, David O Carter, Rob Knight
Prey size and availability limits maximum size of rainbow trout in a large tailwater: insights from a drift-foraging bioenergetics model
The cold and clear water conditions present below many large dams create ideal conditions for the development of economically important salmonid fisheries. Many of these tailwater fisheries have experienced declines in the abundance and condition of large trout species, yet the causes of these declines remain uncertain. Here, we develop, assess, and apply a drift-foraging bioenergetics model to id
Authors
Michael J. Dodrill, Charles B. Yackulic, Theodore A. Kennedy, John W Haye
Wide-area estimates of evapotranspiration by red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) and associated vegetation in the Murray-Darling River Basin, Australia
Floodplain red gum forests (Eucalyptus camaldulensis plus associated grasses, reeds and sedges) are sites of high biodiversity in otherwise arid regions of southeastern Australia. They depend on periodic floods from rivers, but dams and diversions have reduced flood frequencies and volumes, leading to deterioration of trees and associated biota. There is a need to determine their water requirement
Authors
Pamela L. Nagler, Tanya M. Doody, Edward P. Glenn, Christopher J. Jarchow, Armando Barreto-Munoz, Kamel Didan
Elevated Rocky Mountain elk numbers prevent positive effects of fire on quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) recruitment
Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) is the most widespread tree species in North America and has supported a unique ecosystem for tens of thousands of years, yet is currently threatened by dramatic loss and possible local extinctions. While multiple factors such as climate change and fire suppression are thought to contribute to aspen’s decline, increased browsing by elk (Cervus elaphus), which ha
Authors
David Solance Smith, Stephen M. Fettig, Matthew A. Bowker
Plant community resistance to invasion by Bromus species: The roles of community attributes, Bromus interactions with plant communities, and Bromus traits
The factors that determine plant community resistance to exotic annual Bromus species (Bromus hereafter) are diverse and context specific. They are influenced by the environmental characteristics and attributes of the community, the traits of Bromus species, and the direct and indirect interactions of Bromus with the plant community. Environmental factors, in particular ambient and soil temperatur
Authors
Jeanne Chambers, Matthew J. Germino, Jayne Belnap, Cynthia Brown, Eugene W. Schupp, Samuel B St. Clair
Sediment supply versus local hydraulic controls on sediment transport and storage in a river with large sediment loads
The Rio Grande in the Big Bend region of Texas, USA, and Chihuahua and Coahuila, Mexico, undergoes rapid geomorphic changes as a result of its large sediment supply and variable hydrology; thus, it is a useful natural laboratory to investigate the relative importance of flow strength and sediment supply in controlling alluvial channel change. We analyzed a suite of sediment transport and geomorphi
Authors
David Dean, David Topping, John C. Schmidt, Ronald E. Griffiths, Thomas A. Sabol
Relations between rainfall–runoff-induced erosion and aeolian deposition at archaeological sites in a semi-arid dam-controlled river corridor
Process dynamics in fluvial-based dryland environments are highly complex with fluvial, aeolian, and alluvial processes all contributing to landscape change. When anthropogenic activities such as dam-building affect fluvial processes, the complexity in local response can be further increased by flood- and sediment-limiting flows. Understanding these complexities is key to predicting landscape beha
Authors
Brian D. Collins, David Bedford, Skye C. Corbett, Helen C. Fairley, Collin Cronkite-Ratcliff
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Southwest Biological Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center