Publications
Below are publications associated with the Southwest Biological Science Center's research.
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Filter Total Items: 1512
Soil moisture response to seasonal drought conditions and post-thinning forest structure Soil moisture response to seasonal drought conditions and post-thinning forest structure
Prolonged drought conditions in semi-arid forests can lead to widespread vegetation stress and mortality. However, the distribution of these effects is not spatially uniform. We measured soil water potential at high spatial and temporal resolution using 112 sensors distributed across a ponderosa pine forest in northern Arizona, USA, during two abnormally dry years with below-average...
Authors
Adam Belmonte, Temuulen T. Sankey, Joel Biedermann, John B. Bradford, Thomas Kolb
Applied citizen science in freshwater research Applied citizen science in freshwater research
Worldwide, scientists are increasingly collaborating with the general public. Citizen science methods are readily applicable to freshwater research, monitoring, and education. In addition to providing cost-effective data on spatial and temporal scales that are otherwise unattainable, citizen science provides unique opportunities for engagement with local communities and stakeholders in...
Authors
Anya N. Metcalfe, Theodore A. Kennedy, Gabriella A. Mendez, Jeffrey D. Muehlbauer
Nutrient identity modifies the destabilising effects of eutrophication in grasslands Nutrient identity modifies the destabilising effects of eutrophication in grasslands
Nutrient enrichment can simultaneously increase and destabilise plant biomass production, with co-limitation by multiple nutrients potentially intensifying these effects. Here, we test how factorial additions of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium with essential nutrients (K+) affect the stability (mean/standard deviation) of aboveground biomass in 34 grasslands over 7 years
Authors
Oliver Carroll, Evan Batzer, Siddharth Bharath, Elizabeth T. Borer, Sofia Campana, Ellen Esch, Yann Hautier, Timothy Ohlert, Eric W. Seabloom, Peter B. Adler, Jonathan D. Bakker, Lori A. Biederman, Miguel N. Bugalho, Maria Caldeira, Qingqing Chen, Kendi F. Davies, Philip A. Fay, Johannes M. H. Knops, Kimberly Komatsu, Jason P. Martina, Kevin S. McCann, Joslin L. Moore, John W. Morgan, Taofeek O. Muraina, Brooke Bossert Osborne, Anita C. Risch, Carly J. Stevens, Peter A. Wilfahrt, Laura Yahdjian, Andrew S. MacDougall
Biocrusts mediate a new mechanism for land degradation under a changing climate Biocrusts mediate a new mechanism for land degradation under a changing climate
Global concerns for desertification have focused on the slow recovery of extensive and expanding drylands following disturbance, which may be exacerbated by climate change. Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are photosynthetic soil communities found in drylands worldwide, which are central to the stability and resilience of dryland ecosystems, but vulnerable to global change. Here we use...
Authors
Michala Lee Phillips, Brandon E McNellis, Armin J. Howell, Cara Marie Lauria, Jayne Belnap, Sasha C. Reed
Protocol for installing and monitoring a RestoreNet restoration field trial network site Protocol for installing and monitoring a RestoreNet restoration field trial network site
RestoreNet is an ecological restoration experiment that is networked across multiple sites, spanning dryland ecosystems in the southwestern United States. The experiment is organized and led by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS). This protocol functions to provide guidance to additional partners on how to set up a...
Authors
Katherine M. Laushman, Molly L. McCormick, Seth M. Munson, Kathleen R. Balazs, Bradley J. Butterfield
Knowledge sharing for shared success in the decade on ecosystem restoration Knowledge sharing for shared success in the decade on ecosystem restoration
The Decade on Ecosystem Restoration aims to provide the means and incentives for upscaling restoration efforts worldwide. Although ecosystem restoration is a broad, interdisciplinary concept, effective ecological restoration requires sound ecological knowledge to successfully restore biodiversity and ecosystem services in degraded landscapes.We emphasize the critical role of knowledge...
Authors
Emma Ladouceur, Nancy Shackelford, Karma Bouazza, Lars Brudvig, Anna Bucharova, Timo Conradi, Todd E. Erickson, Magda Garbowski, Kelly Garvy, W. Stanley Harpole, Holly P. Jones, Tiffany Knight, Mlungele M. Nsikani, Gustavo B. Paterno, Katharine Suding, Vicky M. Temperton, Peter Torok, Daniel E. Winkler, Johnathan M. Chase
New indicators of ecological resilience and invasion resistance to support prioritization and management in the sagebrush biome, United States New indicators of ecological resilience and invasion resistance to support prioritization and management in the sagebrush biome, United States
Ecosystem transformations to altered or novel ecological states are accelerating across the globe. Indicators of ecological resilience to disturbance and resistance to invasion can aid in assessing risks and prioritizing areas for conservation and restoration. The sagebrush biome encompasses parts of 11 western states and is experiencing rapid transformations due to human population...
Authors
Jeanne C. Chambers, Jessi L. Brown, John B. Bradford, David I. Board, Steven B. Campbell, Karen J. Clause, Brice Hanberry, Daniel Rodolphe Schlaepfer, Alexandra K. Urza
Using the TSS-RESTREND methodology to diagnose post-reclamation vegetation trends on the western slope of Colorado Using the TSS-RESTREND methodology to diagnose post-reclamation vegetation trends on the western slope of Colorado
We evaluated the use of the time series segmented residual trends (TSS-RESTREND) methodology to analyze plant community trends after oil and gas reclamation. We focused on reclaimed well pads managed by the Bureau of Land Management in northwestern Colorado. We assessed whether TSS-RESTREND could detect postreclamation changes in a plant community and if such changes corresponded with...
Authors
Sean Di Stéfano, Jason W. Karl, Michael C. Duniway
Satellite solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence and near-infrared reflectance capture complementary aspects of dryland vegetation productivity dynamics Satellite solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence and near-infrared reflectance capture complementary aspects of dryland vegetation productivity dynamics
Mounting evidence indicates dryland ecosystems play an important role in driving the interannual variability and trend of the terrestrial carbon sink. Nevertheless, our understanding of the seasonal dynamics of dryland ecosystem carbon uptake through photosynthesis [gross primary productivity (GPP)] remains relatively limited due in part to the limited availability of long-term data and...
Authors
Xian Wang, Joel A. Biederman, John F. Knowles, Russell L. Scott, Alexander J Turner, Matthew P. Dannenberg, Philipp Kohler, Christian Frankenberg, Marcy E Litvak, Gerald N. Flerchinger, Beverly E. Law, Hyojung Kwon, Sasha C. Reed, William J Parton, Greg A. Barron-Gafford, William K. Smith
A quantitative soil-geomorphic framework for developing and mapping ecological site groups A quantitative soil-geomorphic framework for developing and mapping ecological site groups
Land management decisions need context about how landscapes will respond to different circumstances or actions. As ecologists’ understanding of nonlinear ecological dynamics has evolved into state-and-transition models (STMs), they have put more emphasis on defining and mapping the soil, geomorphological, and climate parameters that mediate these dynamics. The US Department of...
Authors
Travis W. Nauman, Samuel S Burch, Joel T. Humphries, Anna C. Knight, Michael C. Duniway
Estimating actual evapotranspiration over croplands using vegetation index methods and dynamic harvested area Estimating actual evapotranspiration over croplands using vegetation index methods and dynamic harvested area
Advances in estimating actual evapotranspiration (ETa) with remote sensing (RS) have contributed to improving hydrological, agricultural, and climatological studies. In this study, we evaluated the applicability of Vegetation-Index (VI) -based ETa (ET-VI) for mapping and monitoring drought in arid agricultural systems in a region where a lack of ground data hampers ETa work. To map ETa...
Authors
Neda Abbasi, Hamideh Nouri, Kamel Didan, Armando Barreto Munez, Sattar Chavoshi Borujeni, Hamidreza Salemi, Christian Opp, Stefan Siebert, Pamela L. Nagler
Mapping biological soil crusts in a Hawaiian dryland Mapping biological soil crusts in a Hawaiian dryland
Historical and ongoing land use patterns in the Hawaiian Islands have degraded the Islands’ drylands, causing erosion and detrimentally affecting adjacent coastal marine ecosystems. Biological soil crust (biocrust) communities have been shown to increase soil stability in drylands worldwide, but their efficacy in mitigating soil erosion in Hawaiian drylands is largely unknown. Using a...
Authors
Eszter Collier, Ryan L. Perroy, Sasha C. Reed, Jon P Price