Colorado Plateau Futures: Understanding Agents of Change on the Colorado Plateau to Facilitate Collaborative Adaptation Active
The objective of this interdisciplinary research effort is to 1) characterize agents of change important to land management decision makers on the Colorado Plateau; 2) identify and analyze relationships between agents of change and key landscape attributes and processes; 3) collectively assess the influence of agents of change and attributes and processes on the services provided by the ecosystem; and 4) provide managers with potential future visions of the Colorado Plateau using scenarios that will allow them to prescribe current management actions to achieve preferred resource conditions.
Background & Importance
Climatic conditions and human land use practices are changing rapidly on the Colorado Plateau and these changes are anticipated to continue in the foreseeable future. Although resource management agencies are aware of these trends, they lack specific information about the potential consequences for landscape attributes valued by the agencies and the general public. An important first step in assessing the consequences of these agents of change is to characterize the magnitude of past and potential future changes, and describe the spatial patterns and locations of those changes on the Colorado Plateau.
General Methods
The first step in this project (Goal 1) was to characterize agents of change (e.g. land-use, climate change) on the Colorado Plateau. We did this by gathering a diverse array of datasets on land-use and climate change from the past and future projections where available. We mapped areas of high intensity land-use and climate change (specifically drying trends) to identify which land-uses are likely to overlap, causing potentially higher impacts on ecosystem attributes, and where these areas of high overlap occur. We also explored scenarios for how these overlapping land-use and climate change variables might affect key ecosystem attributes, such as water availability.
The next step in this research (Goal 2) is identifying knowledge gaps. The goal of this phase of research is to better understand the state of information and tools used to make decisions about land management and address several relevant topics/issues. The results will help to identify and direct action to address gaps in information and tools needed to make land management decisions across the Colorado Plateau. To conduct interdisciplinary research that integrates natural and socio-economic science into natural resource decision making, it is essential to identify and coordinate efforts to address regional resource challenges, existing information sources, gaps in available information and tools, and opportunities and barriers to decision making and policy implementation. A gap analysis method will be used to gather the requisite information. In this phase we will engage resource management and conservation program professionals, who rely on scientific data and tools to make resource management decisions or inform resource policy. This group will form a community of experts to guide the data gathering and analysis. The information will then be used to help produce scenarios to facilitate the application of our results to on-the-ground decision making.
Important Results
Increasing trends and overlapping areas of high intensity for use, including oil and gas development and recreation, and climate drying, suggest areas with high potential to experience detrimental effects to the recreation economy, water availability, vegetation and wildlife habitat, and spiritual and cultural resources. Patterns of overlap in high intensity land-use and climate drying differ from the past, indicating the potential for novel impacts, and suggesting that land managers and planners may require new strategies to adapt to changing conditions.
Future Directions
Goal 2: Identify knowledge gaps with a gap analysis targeting regional land managers.
Goal 3: Analyze the impacts of agents of change on key ecological attributes such as water resources and vegetation (at least two separate projects) in regions identified as vulnerable.
Goal 4: Combine results from initial analysis and knowledge gap surveys to build scenarios targeted to management needs and vulnerable ecosystem attributes to aid with decision-making on the Colorado Plateau. Present results to resource managers in workshops.
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Southwest Energy Exploration, Development, and Reclamation (SWEDR)
Dryland Forest Sustainability
Plant Responses to Drought and Climate Change in the Southwestern United States
RAMPS: Restoration Assessment & Monitoring Program for the Southwest
Big Sagebrush Ecosystem Response to Climate & Disturbance
- Overview
The objective of this interdisciplinary research effort is to 1) characterize agents of change important to land management decision makers on the Colorado Plateau; 2) identify and analyze relationships between agents of change and key landscape attributes and processes; 3) collectively assess the influence of agents of change and attributes and processes on the services provided by the ecosystem; and 4) provide managers with potential future visions of the Colorado Plateau using scenarios that will allow them to prescribe current management actions to achieve preferred resource conditions.
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media DetailsDelicate Arch at Arches National Park, one of the parks on the Colorado Plateau with the highest number of visitors (September 2015). (Credit: Stella Copeland, USGS. Public domain.) Background & Importance
Climatic conditions and human land use practices are changing rapidly on the Colorado Plateau and these changes are anticipated to continue in the foreseeable future. Although resource management agencies are aware of these trends, they lack specific information about the potential consequences for landscape attributes valued by the agencies and the general public. An important first step in assessing the consequences of these agents of change is to characterize the magnitude of past and potential future changes, and describe the spatial patterns and locations of those changes on the Colorado Plateau.
General Methods
The first step in this project (Goal 1) was to characterize agents of change (e.g. land-use, climate change) on the Colorado Plateau. We did this by gathering a diverse array of datasets on land-use and climate change from the past and future projections where available. We mapped areas of high intensity land-use and climate change (specifically drying trends) to identify which land-uses are likely to overlap, causing potentially higher impacts on ecosystem attributes, and where these areas of high overlap occur. We also explored scenarios for how these overlapping land-use and climate change variables might affect key ecosystem attributes, such as water availability.
The next step in this research (Goal 2) is identifying knowledge gaps. The goal of this phase of research is to better understand the state of information and tools used to make decisions about land management and address several relevant topics/issues. The results will help to identify and direct action to address gaps in information and tools needed to make land management decisions across the Colorado Plateau. To conduct interdisciplinary research that integrates natural and socio-economic science into natural resource decision making, it is essential to identify and coordinate efforts to address regional resource challenges, existing information sources, gaps in available information and tools, and opportunities and barriers to decision making and policy implementation. A gap analysis method will be used to gather the requisite information. In this phase we will engage resource management and conservation program professionals, who rely on scientific data and tools to make resource management decisions or inform resource policy. This group will form a community of experts to guide the data gathering and analysis. The information will then be used to help produce scenarios to facilitate the application of our results to on-the-ground decision making.
Important Results
Increasing trends and overlapping areas of high intensity for use, including oil and gas development and recreation, and climate drying, suggest areas with high potential to experience detrimental effects to the recreation economy, water availability, vegetation and wildlife habitat, and spiritual and cultural resources. Patterns of overlap in high intensity land-use and climate drying differ from the past, indicating the potential for novel impacts, and suggesting that land managers and planners may require new strategies to adapt to changing conditions.
Future Directions
Goal 2: Identify knowledge gaps with a gap analysis targeting regional land managers.
Goal 3: Analyze the impacts of agents of change on key ecological attributes such as water resources and vegetation (at least two separate projects) in regions identified as vulnerable.
Goal 4: Combine results from initial analysis and knowledge gap surveys to build scenarios targeted to management needs and vulnerable ecosystem attributes to aid with decision-making on the Colorado Plateau. Present results to resource managers in workshops.
- Science
Below are other science projects associated with this project.
Southwest Energy Exploration, Development, and Reclamation (SWEDR)
Approximately 35% of the US and approximately 82% of DOI lands are “drylands” found throughout the western US. These lands contain oil, gas, oil shale, shale oil, and tar sand deposits and the exploration for and extraction of these resources has resulted in hundreds of thousands of operating and abandoned wells across the West. These arid and semi-arid lands have unique soil and plant communities...Dryland Forest Sustainability
Forests in the semiarid southwestern U.S. are expected to be highly vulnerable to increasing aridity anticipated with climate change. In particular, low elevation forests and the processes of tree regeneration and mortality are likely to be highly susceptible to climate change. This work seeks to characterize how, where and when forest ecosystems will change and identify management strategies to...Plant Responses to Drought and Climate Change in the Southwestern United States
Land managers face tremendous challenges in the future as drought and climate change alter the abundance, distribution, and interactions of plant species. These challenges will be especially daunting in the southwestern US, which is already experiencing elevated temperatures and prolonged droughts, resulting in reduced soil moisture in an already water-limited environment. These changes will...RAMPS: Restoration Assessment & Monitoring Program for the Southwest
The Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS) seeks to assist U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and other land management agencies in developing successful techniques for improving land condition in dryland ecosystems of the southwestern United States. Invasion by non-native species, wildfire, drought, and other disturbances are growing rapidly in extent and...Big Sagebrush Ecosystem Response to Climate & Disturbance
Big sagebrush ecosystems are a major component of landscapes in the western U.S. and provide vital habitat to a wide array of wildlife species. However, big sagebrush ecosystems have been dramatically impacted by disturbances in the past several decades. This collaborative research between USGS and the University of Wyoming focuses on understanding how climatic and soil conditions influence big...