Publications
Below are publications associated with the Southwest Biological Science Center's research.
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Filter Total Items: 1518
Seasonal drought treatments impact plant and microbial uptake of nitrogen in a mixed shrub grassland on the Colorado Plateau Seasonal drought treatments impact plant and microbial uptake of nitrogen in a mixed shrub grassland on the Colorado Plateau
For many drylands, both long- and short-term drought conditions can accentuate landscape heterogeneity at both temporal (e.g., role of seasonal patterns) and spatial (e.g., patchy plant cover) scales. Furthermore, short-term drought conditions occurring over one season can exacerbate long-term, multidecadal droughts or aridification, by limiting soil water recharge, decreasing plant...
Authors
Rebecca A Finger-Higgens, David L. Hoover, Anna C. Knight, Savannah Wilson, Tara Boyce Belnap Bishop, Robin H. Reibold, Sasha C. Reed, Michael C. Duniway
The LTAR Grazing Land Common Experiment at the Jornada Experimental Range: Old genetics, new precision technologies, and adaptive value chains The LTAR Grazing Land Common Experiment at the Jornada Experimental Range: Old genetics, new precision technologies, and adaptive value chains
Rangelands and the supply chains connected to them are central to the agrifood systems of the Southwestern United States. Local ranchers are simultaneously arid lands managers, herd managers, and marketing managers. To stay in business, they must constantly adapt to unpredictable forage resources and markets while conserving soils and vegetation resources for the long term. As climate...
Authors
Sheri Spiegal, Rick E. Estell, Andres F. Cibils, Andrew Cox, Matthew M. McIntosh, Dawn M. Browning, Michael C. Duniway, Micah Funk, Lara Macon, Sarah E. McCord, Matthew Redd, Cindy Tolle, Santiago A. Utsumi, Jeremy Walker, Nicholas P. Webb, Brandon T. Bestelmeyer
Vulnerability of mineral-associated soil organic carbon to climate across global drylands Vulnerability of mineral-associated soil organic carbon to climate across global drylands
Mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC) constitutes a major fraction of global soil carbon and is assumed less sensitive to climate than particulate organic carbon (POC) due to protection by minerals. Despite its importance for long-term carbon storage, the response of MAOC to changing climates in drylands, which cover more than 40% of the global land area, remains unexplored. Here we...
Authors
Díaz-Martínez Paloma, Fernando T. Maestre, Eduardo Moreno-Jimenez, Manuel Delgado-Baquerizo, David J. Eldridge, Hugo Saiz, Nicolas Gross, Yoann Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Beatriz Gozalo, Victoria Ochoa, Emilio Guirado, Miguel García-Gómez, Enrique Valencia, Sergio Asensio, Miguel Berdugo, Jaime Martinez-Valderrama, Betty J. Mendoza, Juan C. García-Gil, Claudio Zaccone, Marco Panettieri, Pablo García-Palacios, Wei Fan, Iria Benavente-Ferraces, Ana Rey, Nico Eisenhauer, Simone Cesarz, Mehdi Abedi, Rodrigo J. Ahumada, Julio M. Alcantara, Fateh Amghar, Valeria Aramayo, Antonio I. Arroyo, Khadijeh Bahalkeh, Farah Ben Salem, Niels Blaum, Bazartseren Boldgiv, Matthew A. Bowker, Donaldo Bran, Cristina Branquinho, Chongfeng Bu, Yonatan Cáceres, Rafaella Canessa, Andrea P. Castillo-Monroy, Ignacio Castro, Patricio Castro-Quezada, Roukaya Chibani, Abel A. Conceição, Courtney M. Currier, Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi, Balazs Deak, Christopher R. Dickman, David A. Donoso, Andrew J. Dougill, Jorge Duran, Hamid Ejtehadi, Carlos I. Espinosa, Alex Fajardo, Mohammad Farzam, Daniela Ferrante, Lauchlan H. Fraser, Juan J. Gaitan, Elizabeth Gusman Montalván, Rosa M. Hernández-Hernández, Andreas von Hessberg, Norbert Holzel, Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald, Frederic M. Hughes, Oswaldo Jadan-Maza, Katja Geissler, Anke Jentsch, Mengchen Ju, Kudzai F. Kaseke, Liana Kindermann, Jessica E. Koopman, Peter C. le Roux, Pierre Liancourt, Anja Linstadter, Jushan Liu, Michelle A. Louw, Gillian Maggs-Kolling, Thulani P. Makhalanyane, Oumarou Malam Issa, Eugene Marais, Pierre Margerie, Antonio J. Mazaneda, Mitchel P. McClaran, Joao Vitor S. Messeder, Juan P. Mora, Gerardo Moreno, Seth M. Munson, Alice Nunes, Gabriel Oliva, Gastón R. Oñatibia, Brooke Osborne, Guadalupe Peter, Yolanda Pueyo, R. Emiliano Quiroga, Sasha C. Reed, Victor M. Reyes, Alexandra Rodriguez, Jan C. Ruppert, Osvaldo E. Sala, Ayman Salah, Julius Sebei, Michael Sloan, Shijirbaatar Solongo, Ilan Stavi, Colton R.A. Stephens, Alberto L. Teixido, Andrew D. Thomas, Heather L. Throop, Katja Tielborger, Samantha K. Travers, James Val, Orsolya Valko, Liesbeth van den Brink, Frederike Velbert, Wanyoike Wamiti, Deli Wang, Lixin Wang, Glenda M. Wardle, Laura Yahdjian, Eli Zaady, Juan M. Zeberio, Yuanming Zhang, Xiaobing Zhou, Cesar Plaza
Resilient riverine social–ecological systems: A new paradigm to meet global conservation targets Resilient riverine social–ecological systems: A new paradigm to meet global conservation targets
The United Nations' Convention on Biological Diversity set forth the 30 × 30 target, an agenda for countries to protect at least 30% of their terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine areas by 2030. With
Authors
Denielle M. Perry, Sarah J. Praskievicz, Ryan McManamay, Alark Saxena, K. C. Grimm, Nicholas Zegre, Lucas Bair, Benjamin L. Ruddell, Richard Rushforth
Disturbance amplifies sensitivity of dryland productivity to precipitation variability Disturbance amplifies sensitivity of dryland productivity to precipitation variability
Variability of the terrestrial global carbon sink is largely determined by the response of dryland productivity to annual precipitation. Despite extensive disturbance in drylands, how disturbance alters productivity-precipitation relationships remains poorly understood. Using remote-sensing to pair more than 5600 km of natural gas pipeline corridors with neighboring undisturbed areas in...
Authors
Tyson J. Terry, Osvaldo E. Sala, Scott Ferrenberg, Sasha C. Reed, Brooke B. Osborne, Samuel E. Jordan, Steven R. Lee, Peter B. Adler
A semi-mechanistic model for partitioning evapotranspiration reveals transpiration dominates the water flux in drylands A semi-mechanistic model for partitioning evapotranspiration reveals transpiration dominates the water flux in drylands
Popular evapotranspiration (ET) partitioning methods make assumptions that might not be well-suited to dryland ecosystems, such as high sensitivity of plant water-use efficiency (WUE) to vapor pressure deficit (VPD). Our objectives were to (a) create an ET partitioning model that can produce fine-scale estimates of transpiration (T) in drylands, and (b) use this approach to evaluate how...
Authors
E.G. Reich, K. Samuels-Crow, John B. Bradford, M. Litvak, Daniel Rodolphe Schlaepfer, K. Ogle
On connecting hydro-social parameters to vegetation greenness differences in an evolving groundwater-dependent ecosystem On connecting hydro-social parameters to vegetation greenness differences in an evolving groundwater-dependent ecosystem
Understanding groundwater-dependent ecosystems (i.e., areas with a relatively shallow water table that plays a major role in supporting vegetation health) is key to sustaining water resources in the western United States. Groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs) in Colorado have non-pristine temporal and spatial patterns, compared to agro-ecosystems, which make it difficult to quantify...
Authors
Matthew R. Lurtz, Ryan R. Morrison, Pamela L. Nagler
Effect of water delivery and irrigation for riparian restoration in the Colorado River Delta, Mexico Effect of water delivery and irrigation for riparian restoration in the Colorado River Delta, Mexico
Along Mexico's arid Colorado River Delta, the riparian corridor lacks water due to a reduction in frequent flows, climate change, human infrastructure, and altered riparian landcover from disturbances to invasive species, fire, and high soil and water salinities, which have led to declines in riparian plant health in recent decades. Restoration efforts focusing on small plots have...
Authors
Pamela L. Nagler, Ibrahima Sall, Martha Gomez-Sapiens, Karl W. Flessa, Armando Barreto-Muñoz, Kamel Didan
Synoptic analysis and WRF-Chem model simulation of dust events in the southwestern United States Synoptic analysis and WRF-Chem model simulation of dust events in the southwestern United States
Dust transported from rangelands of the Southwestern United States (US) to mountain snowpack in the Upper Colorado River Basin during spring (March-May) forces earlier and faster snowmelt, which creates problems for water resources and agriculture. To better understand the drivers of dust events, we investigated large-scale meteorology responsible for organizing two Southwest US dust...
Authors
Saroj Dhital, Nicholas P. Webb, Adrian Chappell, Michael L. Kaplan, Travis W. Nauman, Gayle Loren Tyree, Michael C. Duniway, Brandon L. Edwards, Sandra L. LeGrand, Theodore W. Letcher, S. McKenzie Skiles, Patrick Naple, Nathaniel W. Chaney, Jiaxuan Cai
Oil and gas development influences potential for dust emission from the Upper Colorado River Basin, USA Oil and gas development influences potential for dust emission from the Upper Colorado River Basin, USA
Wind erosion and dust emission from drylands have large consequences for ecosystem function and human health. Wind erosion is naturally reduced by soil crusting and sheltering by non-erodible roughness elements such as plants. Land uses that reduce surface roughness and disturb the soil surface can dramatically increase dust emission. Extraction of oil and gas is a common and growing...
Authors
Gayle Loren Tyree, A. Chappell, Miguel L. Villarreal, S. Dhital, Michael C. Duniway, B.L. Edwards, A.M. Faist, T.W. Nauman, N.P. Webb
A fire-use decision model to improve the United States’ wildfire management and support climate change adaptation A fire-use decision model to improve the United States’ wildfire management and support climate change adaptation
The US faces multiple challenges in facilitating the safe, effective, and proactive use of fire as a landscape management tool. This intentional fire use exposes deeply ingrained communication challenges and distinct but overlapping strategies of prescribed fire, cultural burning, and managed wildfire. We argue for a new conceptual model that is organized around ecological conditions...
Authors
Aaron Daniel Russell, Nina Fontana, Tyler Hoecker, Alyssa Kamanu, Reetam Majumder, Jilmarie Stephens, Adam Young, Amanda E. Cravens, Christian Giardina, Kevin Hiers, Jeremy S. Littell, Adam Terando
Bees of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge—A preliminary report on a bee survey in a vulnerable semi-desert grassland of the Sonoran Desert Bees of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge—A preliminary report on a bee survey in a vulnerable semi-desert grassland of the Sonoran Desert
Pollinators are vital to the continued existence and seed production of about 87.5 percent of all flowering plants (Ollerton and others, 2011). In the semi-desert grasslands of Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge, in the Sonoran Desert of the United States, flowering forbs provide seed vital to the food base of wildlife, including the 136 species of resident and migratory birds using...
Authors
Kathryn A. Thomas, Angela M. Hoover, M. Kathryn Busby