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Publications

Filter Total Items: 543

An open-source workflow for scaling burn severity metrics from drone to satellite to support post-fire watershed management An open-source workflow for scaling burn severity metrics from drone to satellite to support post-fire watershed management

Wildfires are increasing in size and severity across much of the western United States, exposing vulnerable wildland-urban interfaces to post-fire hazards. The Mediterranean chaparral region of Northern California contains many high sloping watersheds prone to hazardous post-fire flood events and identifying watersheds at high risk of soil loss and debris flows is a priority for post...
Authors
Joshua W. von Nonn, Miguel L. Villarreal, Leonhard Blesius, Jerry D. Davis, Skye C. Corbett

Natural climate solutions provide robust carbon mitigation capacity under future climate change scenarios Natural climate solutions provide robust carbon mitigation capacity under future climate change scenarios

Natural climate solutions (NCS) are recognized as an important tool for governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and remove atmospheric carbon dioxide. Using California as a globally relevant reference, we evaluate the magnitude of biological climate mitigation potential from NCS starting in 2020 under four climate change scenarios. By mid-century NCS implementation leads to a...
Authors
Dave C. Marvin, Benjamin M. Sleeter, D. Richard Cameron, Erik Nelson, Andrew J. Plantinga

Trade-offs in adapting to changes in climate, land use, and water availability in California Trade-offs in adapting to changes in climate, land use, and water availability in California

Changes in land use and land cover, water systems, and climate are inextricably linked, and their combined stresses have had severe impacts in many regions worldwide. Integrated adaptation planning can support adaptive capacity by helping institutions manage land and water resources at regional to local scales. Linkages between these stressors mean that planners are often faced with...
Authors
Nathan D. Van Schmidt, Tamara Wilson, Lorraine E. Flint, R. Langridge

An early warning signal for grassland degradation on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau An early warning signal for grassland degradation on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Intense grazing may lead to grassland degradation on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, but it is difficult to predict where this will occur and to quantify it. Based on a process-based ecosystem model, we define a productivity-based stocking rate threshold that induces extreme grassland degradation to assess whether and where the current grazing activity in the region is sustainable. We find...
Authors
Qiuan Zhu, Huai Chen, Changhui Peng, Jinxun Liu, Shilong Piao, Jin-Sheng He, Shiping Wang, Xinquan Zhao, Jiang Zhang, Xiuqin Fang, Jiaxin Jin, Qi-En Yang, Liliang Ren, Yanfen Wang

Social vulnerability and geographic access barriers to earthquake early warning education in museums and other free choice learning environments Social vulnerability and geographic access barriers to earthquake early warning education in museums and other free choice learning environments

Given the earthquake risk on the West Coast of the United States, individuals and communities require a basic understanding of ShakeAlert earthquake early warning technology, which may provide crucial seconds of warning. Free choice learning environments (FCLEs), such as museums, public libraries, and national parks, are uniquely positioned to expand the reach of earthquake early warning...
Authors
Danielle F. Sumy, Oronde Oliver Drakes, Sara McBride, Mariah R. Jenkins

The long shadow of a major disaster: Modeled dynamic impacts of the hypothetical HayWired earthquake on California’s economy The long shadow of a major disaster: Modeled dynamic impacts of the hypothetical HayWired earthquake on California’s economy

We develop and apply a dynamic economic simulation model to analyze the multi-regional impacts of, and mechanisms of recovery from, a major disaster, the HayWired scenario — a hypothetical Magnitude 7.0 earthquake affecting California’s San Francisco Bay Area. The model integrates loss pathways: capital stock damage, labor supply shocks due to short-term population displacement and...
Authors
Ian Sue Wing, Adam Z Rose, Dan Wei, Anne Wein

Upscaling wetland methane emissions from the FLUXNET-CH4 Eddy Covariance Network (UpCH4 v1.0): Model development, network assessment, and budget comparison Upscaling wetland methane emissions from the FLUXNET-CH4 Eddy Covariance Network (UpCH4 v1.0): Model development, network assessment, and budget comparison

Wetlands are responsible for 20%–31% of global methane (CH4) emissions and account for a large source of uncertainty in the global CH4 budget. Data-driven upscaling of CH4 fluxes from eddy covariance measurements can provide new and independent bottom-up estimates of wetland CH4 emissions. Here, we develop a six-predictor random forest upscaling model (UpCH4), trained on 119 site-years...
Authors
Gavin McNicol, Etienne Fluet-Chouinard, Zutao Ouyang, Sarah Knox, Zhang Zhen, Tuula Aalto, Sheel Bansal, Kuang-Yu Chang, Min Chen, Kyle Delwiche, Sarah Feron, Mathias Goeckede, Jinxun Liu, Avni Malhotra, Joe R. Melton, William Riley, Rodrigo Vargas, Kunxiaojia Yuan, Qing Yang, Qing Zhu, Pavel Alekseychik, Mika Aurela, David P. Billesbach, David I. Campbell, Jiquan Chen, Housen Chu, Ankur Desai, Eugenie Euskirchen, Jordan Goodrich, Timothy Griffis, Manuel Helbig, Takashi Hirano, Hiroki Iwata, Gerald Jurasinski, John King, Franziska Koebsch, Randall Kolka, Ken Krauss, Annalea Lohila, Ivan Mammarella, Mats Nilson, Asko Noormets, Walter Oechel, Matthias Peichl, Torsten Sachs, Ayaka Sakabe, Christopher Schulze, Oliver Sonnentag, Ryan C. Sullivan, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Masahito Ueyama, Timo Vesala, Eric Ward, Christian Wille, Guan Xhuan Wong, Donatella Zona, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Benjamin Poulter, Robert B. Jackson

Riparian vegetation response amid variable climate conditions across the Upper Gila River watershed: informing Tribal restoration priorities Riparian vegetation response amid variable climate conditions across the Upper Gila River watershed: informing Tribal restoration priorities

Restoring degraded river systems is an enormous challenge, especially given the uncertainty in a time of climate change. Here, Roy Petrakis explains how restoration approaches informed by remote sensing and a climate adaptation framework increase the potential for overall success. He discusses research being done on the Gila River as a case study of how it might work.
Authors
Roy E. Petrakis

Time, climate, and soil settings set the course for reclamation outcomes following dryland energy development Time, climate, and soil settings set the course for reclamation outcomes following dryland energy development

Soil attributes, climate, and time since reclamation have important implications for oil and gas reclamation success on drylands. It is uncertain if reclaimed well pads, on highly degraded drylands, can successfully regain ecological function or meet indicator benchmarks for reclamation. Here, our goals were to assess patterns in reclamation outcomes relative to (1) soil attributes...
Authors
Randi C. Lupardus, Aarin Sengsirirak, Keven Griffen, Anna C. Knight, Brandon E McNellis, John B. Bradford, Seth M. Munson, Sasha C. Reed, Miguel L. Villarreal, Michael C. Duniway

Resilience of riparian vegetation productivity to early 21st century drought in northern California, USA Resilience of riparian vegetation productivity to early 21st century drought in northern California, USA

Drought and intensive land use can interact as stressors on riparian vegetation, especially along rivers flowing through seasonally dry landscapes. Knowledge of past riparian vegetation response to drought and land use change can provide land managers with a better understanding of changes induced by upstream management actions, climate change, and chronic stressors. To investigate the...
Authors
Paul C. Selmants, Caroline Rose Conrad, Tamara Wilson, Miguel L. Villarreal

Biophysical factors control invasive annual grass hot spots in the Mojave Desert Biophysical factors control invasive annual grass hot spots in the Mojave Desert

Invasive annual grasses can promote ecosystem state changes and habitat loss in the American Southwest. Non-native annual grasses such as Bromus spp. and Schismus spp. have invaded the Mojave Desert and degraded habitat through increased fire occurrence, severity, and shifting plant community composition. Thus, it is important to identify and characterize the areas where persistent...
Authors
Tanner Corless Smith, Tara B.B. Bishop, Michael C. Duniway, Miguel L. Villarreal, Anna C. Knight, Seth M. Munson, Eric K. Waller, Ryan Jensen, Richard A. Gill

Current and future sinkhole susceptibility in karst and pseudokarst areas of the conterminous United States Current and future sinkhole susceptibility in karst and pseudokarst areas of the conterminous United States

Sinkholes in karst and pseudokarst regions threaten infrastructure, property, and lives. We mapped closed depressions in karst and pseudokarst regions of the conterminous United States (U.S.) from 10-m-resolution elevation data using high-performance computing, and then created a heuristic additive model of sinkhole susceptibility that also included nationally consistent data for factors...
Authors
Nathan J. Wood, Daniel H. Doctor, Jay R. Alder, Jeanne M. Jones
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