Publications

Snowpack in the western U.S. is on the decline, largely attributed to increasing temperatures in the region. This is a critical issue for many Native American communities who disproportionately rely on local snow-fed water supplies. In light of a combined ongoing drought and limited climate information for the Navajo Nation, Navajo water managers face decision-making challenges...

While soil organic carbon (C) is the foundation of productive and healthy ecosystems, the impact of the ecology of microorganisms on C-cycling remains unknown. We manipulated the diversity, applied here as species richness, of the microbial community present in similar soils on two contrasting land-covers—an adjacent pasture and forest—and observed the transformations of plant detritus...

Mangrove forests are likely vulnerable to accelerating sea-level rise; however, we lack the tools necessary to understand their future resilience. On the Pacific island of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, mangroves are habitat to endangered species and provide critical ecosystem services that support local communities. We developed a generalizable modeling framework for mangroves...

Tropicalization is a term used to describe the transformation of temperate ecosystems by poleward‐moving tropical organisms in response to warming temperatures. In North America, decreases in the frequency and intensity of extreme winter cold events are expected to allow the poleward range expansion of many cold‐sensitive tropical organisms, sometimes at the expense of temperate...

Along the rugged Southeast Alaska coast, 30 kilometers northeast of the state capital Juneau, a tidewater glacier has largely defied global trends by steadily advancing for most of the past century while most glaciers on Earth retreated. This 55-kilometer-long and nearly 1,500-meter-thick tidewater glacier, named Taku Glacier, or T'aaḵú Ḵwáan Sít'i in the language of the Indigenous...

Mountain ranges generate clouds, precipitation, and perennial streamflow for water supplies, but the role of forest cover in mountain hydrometeorology and cloud formation is not well understood. In the Luquillo Experimental Forest of Puerto Rico, mountains are immersed in clouds nightly, providing a steady precipitation source to support the tropical forest ecosystems and human uses. A...

The stock of organic carbon contained within a soil represents the balance between inputs and losses. Inputs are defined by the ability of vegetation to capture and retain carbon dioxide, effects that management practices have on the proportion of captured carbon that is added to soil and the application organic amendments. The proportion of organic amendment carbon retained is defined...

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) impacts water quality, the carbon cycle, and the ecology of aquatic systems. Understanding what controls DOC is therefore critical for improving large-scale models and best management practices for aquatic ecosystems. The two main processes of DOC transformation and removal, photochemical and microbial DOC degradation, work in tandem to modify and...

Snow avalanches affect transportation corridors and settlements worldwide. In many mountainous regions, robust records of avalanche frequency and magnitude are sparse or non-existent. However, dendrochronological methods can be used to fill this gap and infer historical avalanche patterns. In this study, we developed a tree-ring-based avalanche chronology for large magnitude avalanche...

The Aleutian Low (AL) is one of the major atmospheric systems that determines environmental conditions during winter in the North Pacific Ocean, with impacts that affect the climates of both Asia and North America from mid- to high latitudes. However, the multi-centennial and longer scale behavior of the AL during the Holocene is not fully understood. In this study, AL variability since...

Since the mid-19th century, geologists and paleontologists have recognized the scientific importance and unique nature of the richly fossiliferous sediments exposed along the Tjörnes Peninsula in Northern Iceland. In the following century and a half, Tjörnes has attracted the attention of an international “who’s who” in Cenozoic paleontology, as well as many paleoclimatologists...

Operational satellite remote sensing products are transforming rangeland management and science. Advancements in computation, data storage and processing have removed barriers that previously blocked or hindered the development and use of remote sensing products. When combined with local data and knowledge, remote sensing products can inform decision‐making at multiple scales.We used...