Publications
Below are publications associated with the Southwest Biological Science Center's research.
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Filter Total Items: 1512
Ecologically relevant moisture and temperature metrics for assessing dryland ecosystem dynamics Ecologically relevant moisture and temperature metrics for assessing dryland ecosystem dynamics
In drylands, water-limited regions that cover ~40% of the global land surface, ecosystems are primarily controlled by access to soil moisture and exposure to simultaneously hot and dry conditions. Quantifying ecologically relevant environmental metrics is difficult in drylands because the response of vegetation to moisture and temperature conditions is not easily explained solely by...
Authors
D. A. Chenoweth, Daniel Rodolphe Schlaepfer, J. C. Chambers, J. L. Brown, A. K. Urza, Brice Hanberry, D. Board, M. Crist, John B. Bradford
Geologic, geomorphic, and edaphic underpinnings of dryland ecosystems: Colorado Plateau landscapes in a changing world Geologic, geomorphic, and edaphic underpinnings of dryland ecosystems: Colorado Plateau landscapes in a changing world
Drylands represent more than 41% of the global land surface and are at degradation risk due to land use and climate change. Developing strategies to mitigate degradation and restore drylands in the face of these threats requires an understanding of how drylands are shaped by not only soils and climate, but also geology and geomorphology. However, few studies have completed such a...
Authors
Michael C. Duniway, Christopher Benson, Travis W. Nauman, Anna C. Knight, John B. Bradford, Seth M. Munson, Dana L. Witwicki, Carolyn Livensperger, Matthew W. Van Scoyoc, Terry T Fisk, David Thoma, Mark E. Miller
Drought related changes in water quality surpass effects of experimental flows on trout growth downstream of Lake Powell reservoir Drought related changes in water quality surpass effects of experimental flows on trout growth downstream of Lake Powell reservoir
Flows released from reservoirs are often modified to mitigate the negative ecosystem effects of dams. We estimated the effects of two experimental flows, fall-timed floods and elimination of sub-daily variation in flows on weekends, on growth rates of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the Colorado River downstream from Glen Canyon Dam. Experimental flow effects were compared to...
Authors
Josh Korman, Bridget Deemer, Charles Yackulic, Theodore Kennedy, Mariah Aurelia Giardina
Mapping 2-D bedload rates throughout a sand-bed river reach from high-resolution acoustical surveys of migrating bedforms Mapping 2-D bedload rates throughout a sand-bed river reach from high-resolution acoustical surveys of migrating bedforms
This paper introduces a method for determining spatially-distributed, 2-D bedload rates using repeat, high-resolution surveys of the bed topography. As opposed to existing methods, bedform parameters and bedload rates are computed from bed elevation profiles interpolated along the local bedform velocities. The bedform velocity fields are computed applying Large-Scale Particle Image...
Authors
Jérôme Le Coz, Emeline Perret, Benoît Camenen, David J. Topping, Daniel D. Buscombe, Kate Leary, Guillaume Dramais, Paul E. Grams
The hydroclimate niche: A tool for predicting and managing riparian plant community responses to streamflow seasonality The hydroclimate niche: A tool for predicting and managing riparian plant community responses to streamflow seasonality
Habitat suitability is a consequence of interacting environmental factors. In riparian ecosystems, suitable plant habitat is influenced by interactions between stream hydrology and climate, hereafter referred to as “hydroclimate”. We tested the hypothesis that hydroclimate variables would improve the fit of ecological niche models for a suite of riparian species using occurrence data...
Authors
Bradley J. Butterfield, Emily C. Palmquist, Charles Yackulic
Patterns and controls of foliar nutrient stoichiometry and flexibility across United States forests Patterns and controls of foliar nutrient stoichiometry and flexibility across United States forests
Plant element stoichiometry and stoichiometric flexibility strongly regulate ecosystem responses to global change. Here, we tested three potential mechanistic drivers (climate, soil nutrients, and plant taxonomy) of both using paired foliar and soil nutrient data from terrestrial forested National Ecological Observatory Network sites across the USA. We found that broad patterns of foliar...
Authors
Katherine A Kynarski, Fiona M. Soper, Sasha C. Reed, William R Wieder, Cory C Cleveland
Adapting to climate change on desert rangelands: A multi-site comparison of grazing behavior plasticity of heritage and improved beef cattle Adapting to climate change on desert rangelands: A multi-site comparison of grazing behavior plasticity of heritage and improved beef cattle
Climate change is amplifying the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of desert rangeland forages through its impact on precipitation variability. Foraging behavior plasticity (an animal's ability to alter its behavior to cope with environmental variation) could be a key trait for climate adaptation of beef cattle in arid environments. We analyzed GPS-derived movement and activity data of...
Authors
Andres F. Cibils, Rick E. Estell, Sheri Spiegal, Shelemia Nyamuryekung’e, Matthew M. McIntosh, Danielle M. Duni, Herrera Conegliano, Felipe A. Rodriguez Almeida, Octavio Roacho Estrada, Lisandro J. Blanco, Michael C. Duniway, Santiago A. Utsumi, Alfredo L. Gonzalez
The Colorado River – The science-policy interface The Colorado River – The science-policy interface
No abstract available.
Authors
John C. Schmidt, Lindsey Bruckerhoff, Jianghao Wang, Charles Yackulic
Perspectives on challenges and opportunities at the restoration-policy interface in the U.S.A. Perspectives on challenges and opportunities at the restoration-policy interface in the U.S.A.
As we advance into the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, understanding the relationship between science, management, and policy is increasingly important given the paucity of research evaluating the ability of existing policy to address contemporary environmental challenges. Despite their inherent interdependence, restoration ecology as a scientific discipline, ecological...
Authors
Ella M. Samuel, Rachel M. Mitchell, Daniel E. Winkler
Climate disequilibrium dominates uncertainty in long-term projections of primary productivity Climate disequilibrium dominates uncertainty in long-term projections of primary productivity
Rapid climate change may exceed ecosystems' capacities to respond through processes including phenotypic plasticity, compositional turnover and evolutionary adaption. However, consequences of the resulting climate disequilibria for ecosystem functioning are rarely considered in projections of climate change impacts. Combining statistical models fit to historical climate data and remotely...
Authors
Andrew J Felton, Robert K Shriver, Michael Stemkovski, John B. Bradford, Katharine N. Suding, Peter B. Adler
The Grand Caddis hatch of JASM 2022: Trichoptera natural history observations at the Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan (USA) The Grand Caddis hatch of JASM 2022: Trichoptera natural history observations at the Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan (USA)
In a stroke of good luck for aquatic scientists and insect enthusiasts, the May 2022 Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting (JASM) in Grand Rapids, Michigan coincided with a spectacular hatch of hydropsychid caddisflies. To estimate density, we enumerated caddisflies on 12 polarized window panels on the western face of the DeVos Place, which faced the Grand River. We found an average of 57.8...
Authors
Anya Metcalfe, Angelika L. Kurthen, Jared Freedman, Alexander B. Orfinger
Summer 2022 edition Summer 2022 edition
No abstract available.
Authors
Molly L. McCormick, Seth M. Munson, John B. Bradford