Publications
Below are publications associated with the Southwest Biological Science Center's research.
Trying to access a publication? Or looking for a GCMRC/GCES historical report? Reach out to Meredith Hartwell: mhartwell@usgs.gov with your request.
Filter Total Items: 1512
Variable effects of long-term livestock grazing across the western United States suggest diverse approaches are needed to meet global change challenges Variable effects of long-term livestock grazing across the western United States suggest diverse approaches are needed to meet global change challenges
Aims Livestock production is the most widespread land use globally and occurs across a diverse set of ecosystems. Variability in long-term livestock grazing impacts across ecosystems is poorly characterized, particularly at larger spatial scales, despite strong relationships with various ecosystem services related to soil fertility and stabilization and vegetation productivity. Here we...
Authors
Stella M. Copeland, David L. Hoover, David J. Augustine, Jonathan D Bates, Chad S. Boyd, Kirk W. Davies, Justin D. Derner, Michael C. Duniway, Lauren M. Porensky, Lance T Vermeire
Plant water-use strategies predict restoration success across degraded drylands Plant water-use strategies predict restoration success across degraded drylands
Plant strategies for coping with water limitation are likely to mediate restoration outcomes in degraded dryland ecosystems. Trade-offs in traits related to water acquisition and use can intensify in more arid environments, making their effects on dryland restoration success even more salient. However, isolating the effects of drought responses from those of other environmental factors...
Authors
Bradley J. Butterfield, Seth M. Munson, Hannah L. Farrell
A river basin spatial model to quantitively advance understanding of riverine tree response dynamics to water availability and hydrological management A river basin spatial model to quantitively advance understanding of riverine tree response dynamics to water availability and hydrological management
Ecological condition continues to decline in arid and semi-arid river basins globally due to hydrological over-abstraction combined with changing climatic conditions. Whilst provision of water for the environment has been a primary approach to alleviate ecological decline, how to accurately monitor changes in riverine trees at fine spatial and temporal scales, remains a substantial...
Authors
Tanya M. Doody, Sicong Gao, Willem Vervoot, Jodie Pritchard, Michah Davies, Martin Nolan, Pamela L. Nagler
Soil surface treatments and precipitation timing determine seedling development across southwestern US restoration sites Soil surface treatments and precipitation timing determine seedling development across southwestern US restoration sites
Restoration in dryland ecosystems often has poor success due to low and variable water availability, degraded soil conditions, and slow plant community recovery rates. Restoration treatments can mitigate these constraints but, because treatments and subsequent monitoring are typically limited in space and time, our understanding of their applicability across broader environmental...
Authors
Hannah Lucia Farrell, Seth M. Munson, Bradley J. Butterfield, Michael C. Duniway, Aksasha M Faist, Elise S Gornish, Caroline Havrilla, Loralee Larios, Sasha C. Reed, Helen I Rowe, Katherine M. Laushman, Molly L. McCormick
Random forest classification of multitemporal Landsat 8 spectral data and phenology metrics for land cover mapping in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts Random forest classification of multitemporal Landsat 8 spectral data and phenology metrics for land cover mapping in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts
Geospatial data and tools evolve as new technologies are developed and landscape change occurs over time. As a result, these data may become outdated and inadequate for supporting critical habitat-related work across the international boundary in the Sonoran and Mojave Deserts Bird Conservation Region (BCR 33) due to the area’s complex vegetation communities and the discontinuity in data
Authors
Madeline Melichar, Kamel Didan, Armando Barreto-Muñoz, Jennifer N. Duberstein, Eduardo Jimenez Hernandez, Theresa Crimmins, Haiquan Li, Myles B. Traphagen, Kathryn A. Thomas, Pamela L. Nagler
Declines in prey production during the collapse of a tailwater Rainbow Trout population are associated with changing reservoir conditions Declines in prey production during the collapse of a tailwater Rainbow Trout population are associated with changing reservoir conditions
Objective Understanding how energy moves through food webs and limits productivity at various trophic levels is a central question in aquatic ecology and can provide insight into drivers of fish population dynamics since many fish populations are food limited. In this study, we seek to better understand what factors drove a decline of >85% in the number of Rainbow TroutOncorhynchus...
Authors
Michael D. Yard, Charles Yackulic, Josh Korman, Michael Dodrill, Bridget Deemer
Atmospheric radiocarbon for the period 1910 to 2021 recorded by annual plants Atmospheric radiocarbon for the period 1910 to 2021 recorded by annual plants
We present a timeseries of 14CO2 for the period 1910–2021 recorded by annual plants collected in the southwestern United States, centered near Flagstaff, Arizona. This timeseries is dominated by five commonly occurring annual plant species in the region, which is considered broadly representative of the southern Colorado Plateau. Most samples (1910–2015) were previously archived...
Authors
Mariah S Carbone, Tina J Ayers, Christopher H Ebert, Seth M. Munson, Edward A G Schuur, Andrew D. Richardson
Mapping vegetation index-derived actual evapotranspiration across croplands using the Google Earth Engine platform Mapping vegetation index-derived actual evapotranspiration across croplands using the Google Earth Engine platform
Precise knowledge of crop water consumption is essential to better manage agricultural water use, particularly in regions where most countries struggle with increasing water and food insecurity. Approaches such as cloud computing and remote sensing (RS) have facilitated access, process, and visualization of big geospatial data to map and monitor crop water requirements. To find the most...
Authors
Neda Abbasi, Hamideh Nouri, Kamel Didan, Armando Barreto-Muñoz, Sattar Chavoshi Borujeni, Christian Opp, Pamela L. Nagler, Prasad Thenkabail, Stefan Siebert
Decoupling of species and plant communities of the U.S. Southwest: A CCSM4 climate scenario example Decoupling of species and plant communities of the U.S. Southwest: A CCSM4 climate scenario example
Climate change is predicted to alter the current climate suitability under which plant species and communities occur. Predictions of change have focused on individual species or entire communities, but theory indicates plants will not respond uniformly to climate change within or between communities. We developed models of the current climate suitability (the baseline) of 66 plant...
Authors
Kathryn A. Thomas, Brett A. Stauffer, Christopher J. Jarchow
A review of common natural disasters as analogs for asteroid impact effects and cascading hazards A review of common natural disasters as analogs for asteroid impact effects and cascading hazards
Modern civilization has no collective experience with possible wide-ranging effects from a medium-sized asteroid impactor. Currently, modeling efforts that predict initial effects from a meteor impact or airburst provide needed information for initial preparation and evacuation plans, but longer-term cascading hazards are not typically considered. However, more common natural disasters...
Authors
Timothy N. Titus, D. G. Robertson, Joel B. Sankey, Larry G. Mastin, Francis K. Rengers
Do nurse plant effects strengthen over time? Results from 12 years of desert habitat restoration Do nurse plant effects strengthen over time? Results from 12 years of desert habitat restoration
Nurse plant effects occur when benefactor perennials facilitate beneficiary plants below their canopies. Two poorly understood aspects of nurse plant ecology include whether facilitation strengthens as nurse plants mature and whether reestablishing perennials through ecological restoration at disturbed sites can trigger facilitation akin to in natural plant communities. We examined these
Authors
Scott R. Abella, Lindsay P. Chiquoine, Mary A. Balogh, Adam J. Taylor, Seth M. Munson