Bontti, E.E., J.P. DeCant, S.M. Munson, M.A. Gathany, A. Przeszlowska, M.L. Haddix, S. Owens, I.C. Burke, W.J. Parton, and M.E. Harmon. 2009. Litter decomposition in grasslands of Central North America (US Great Plains). Global Change Biology 15: 1356–1363.
Seth Munson
Biography
Seth Munson is an ecologist with the Southwest Biological Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona. His research focuses on plant-soil interactions in dryland ecosystems and how these interactions are affected by climate and land use changes. Much of his research aims to understand the dynamics of dryland ecosystems at long temporal and broad spatial scales, and employs a multidisciplinary approach. His work seeks to improve the management of arid and semiarid lands and is done in close collaboration with several land management agencies.
Education:
Ph.D. Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, May 2009
B.A. Biology, Earlham College, Richmond, IN, May 2001
Research Interests:
Plant Ecology, Ecosystem Ecology, Dryland Ecology, Restoration Ecology, Soil Erosion
Current Positions:
Research Ecologist, US Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Flagstaff, AZ
Adjunct Faculty, Northern Arizona University, Department of Biological Sciences, Flagstaff, AZ
Adjunct Faculty, Arizona State University, School of Life Sciences, Phoenix, AZ
Current Research Projects:
Plant Responses to Drought and Climate Change in the Southwestern United States
Restoration and Ecosystem Recovery Dynamics in Arid and Semiarid Landscapes
Restoration Assessment & Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS)
Aeolian Dust in Dryland Landscapes of the Western United States
Past Positions:
Jan 2011 - Dec 2013; Research Ecologist (Mendenhall Fellow), US Geological Survey, Geology and Environmental Change Science Center, Denver, CO
Dec 2008 - Jan 2011; Ecologist, US Geological Survey, Canyonlands Research Station, Moab, Utah
May 2004 - Nov 2008; Research Assistant, Colorado State University, Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Fort Collins, CO
Sep 2002 – May 2004; Research Associate, University of New Mexico, Biology Department, Albuquerque, NM
Publications:
Bradford, J.B., M.C. Duniway, and S.M. Munson. 2019. Assessing rangeland health under climate variability and change. Pages 310 - 322 in D.J. Gibson and J.A. Newman, editors. Grasslands and Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. [Link]
Bishop, T.B.B., S. Munson, R.A. Gill, J. Belnap, S.L. Petersen, and S.B. St. Clair. 2019. Spatiotemporal patterns of cheatgrass invasion in Colorado Plateau National Parks: Landscape Ecology 34: 925 - 941. [Link]
Copeland, S.M., S.M. Munson, J.B. Bradford, B.J. Butterfield, and K.L. Gunnell. 2019. Long‐term plant community trajectories suggest divergent responses of native and non‐native perennials and annuals to vegetation removal and seeding treatments. Restoration Ecology, DOI: 10.1111/rec.12928. [Link]
Elkind, K., T.T. Sankey, S.M. Munson, and C.E. Aslan. 2019. Invasive buffelgrass detection using high‐resolution satellite and UAV imagery on Google Earth Engine. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, DOI: 10.1002/rse2.116. [Link]
Copeland, S.M., S.M. Munson, J.B. Bradford, and B.J. Butterfield. 2019. Influence of climate, post-treatment weather extremes, and soil factors on vegetation recovery after restoration treatments in the southwestern US. Applied Vegetation Science 22: 85 - 95. [Link]
Munson, S.M., E.L. Bunting, J.B. Bradford, B.J. Butterfield, and J.R. Gremer. 2018. Plant production responses to precipitation differ along an elevation gradient and are enhanced under extremes. Ecosystems, DOI: 10.1007/s10021-018-0296-3. [Link]
Thoma, D.P., S.M. Munson, and D.L. Witwicki. 2018. Landscape pivot points and responses to water balance in national parks of the southwest U.S. Journal of Applied Ecology 56: 157 - 167. [Link]
Gremer, J.R., C. Andrews, J.R. Norris, L.P. Thomas, S.M. Munson, M.C. Duniway, and J.B. Bradford. 2018. Increasing temperature seasonality may overwhem shifts in soil moisture to favor shrub over grass dominance in Colorado Plateau drylands. Oecologia 188: 1195 – 1207. [Link]
Winkler, D.E., ..., S.M. Munson [15th author], et al. 2018. Beyond traditional ecological restoration on the Colorado Plateau. Restoration Ecology 26: 1055 – 1060. [Link]
Bradford, J.B., B.L. Betancourt, B.J. Butterfield, S.M. Munson, and T.E. Wood. 2018. Anticipatory natural resource science and management for a changing future. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 16: 295 – 303. [Link]
Munson, S.M., S.C. Reed, J. Peñuelas, N.G. McDowell, and O.E. Sala. 2018. Ecosystem thresholds, tipping points, and critical transitions. New Phytologist 218: 1315 – 1317. [Link]
Solazzo, D., J.B. Sankey, T.T. Sankey, and S.M. Munson. 2018. Mapping and measuring aeolian sand dunes with phogrammetry and LiDAR from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and mulitspectral satellite imagery on the Paria Plateau, AZ, USA. Geomorpholody 319: 174 – 185. [Link]
S.D. Wilson, ..., S.M. Munson [9th author], et al. 2018. Functional group, biomass, and climate change effects on ecological drought in semiarid grasslands. Journal of Geophysical Research - Biogeosciences 123: 1072 – 1085. [Link]
Copeland, S.M., S.M. Munson, D.S. Pilliod, J.L. Welty, J.B. Bradford, and B.J. Butterfield. 2018. Long-term trends in restoration and associated land treatments in the southwestern United States. Restoration Ecology 26: 311 – 322. [Link]
Schlaepfer, D.R., J.B. Bradford, W.K. Lauenroth, S.M. Munson, B. Tietjen, S.A. Hall, S.D. Wilson, M.C. Duniway, G. Jia, D.A. Pyke, A. Lkhagva, and K. Jamiyansharav. 2017. Climate change reduces extent of temperate drylands and intensifies drought in deep soils. Nature Communications 8: 14196. [Link]
Bradford, J.B., D.R. Schlaepfer, W.K. Lauenroth, C.B. Yackulic, M. Duniway, S. Hall, G. Jia, K. Jamiyansharav, S.M Munson, S.D. Wilson, and B. Tietjen. 2017. Future soil moisture and temperature extremes imply expanding suitability for rainfed agriculture in temperate drylands. Scientific Reports 7: 12923. [Link]
Tietjen, B., D.R. Schlaepfer, J.B. Bradford, W.K. Lauenroth, S.A. Hall, M.C. Duniway, T. Hochstrasser, G. Jia, S.M. Munson, D.A. Pyke, and S.D. Wilson. 2017. Climate change-induced vegetation shifts lead to more ecological droughts despite projected rainfall increases in many global temperate drylands. Global Change Biology 23: 2743 – 2754. [Link]
Bunting, E.L, S.M. Munson, and M.L. Villarreal. 2017. Climate legacy and lag effects on dryland plant communities in the southwestern U.S. Ecological Indicators 74: 216 – 229. [Link]
Munson, S.M. and A.L. Long. 2017. Climate drives shifts in grass reproductive phenology across the western USA. New Phytologist 213: 1945 – 1955. [Link]
Butterfield, B.J., J.B. Bradford, S.M. Munson, and J.R. Gremer. 2017. Aridity increases below-ground niche breadth in grass communities. Plant Ecology 218: 385 – 394. [Link]
Butterfield, B.J., S.M. Copeland, S.M. Munson, C.M. Roybal, and T.E. Wood. 2017. Prestoration: Using species in restoration that will persist now and into the future. Restoration Ecology 25: S155 – S163. [Link]
Witwicki, D.L., S.M. Munson, and D.P. Thoma. 2016. Effects of climate and water balance across grasslands of varying C3 and C4 grass cover. Ecosphere 7: e01577. [Link]
Munson, S.M., T.T. Sankey, G. Xian, M.L. Villarreal, and C.G. Homer. 2016. Decadal shifts in grass and woody plant cover are driven by prolonged drying and modified by topo-edaphic properties. Ecological Applications 26: 2480 – 2494. [Link]
Reynolds, R.L., S.M. Munson, D.P. Fernandez, H.L. Goldstein, and J.C. Neff. 2016. Concentrations of mineral aerosol from desert to plains across the central Rocky Mountains, western United States. Aeolian Research 23: 21 – 35. [Link]
Butterfield, B.J. and S.M. Munson. 2016. Temperature is better than precipitation as a predictor of plant community assembly across a dryland region. Journal of Vegetation Science 27: 938 – 947. [Link]
Munson, S.M., A. L. Long, C.S.A. Wallace, and R.H. Webb. 2016. Cumulative drought and land-use impacts to perennial vegetation across a North American dryland region. Applied Vegetation Science 19: 430 – 441. [Download File]
Thoma, D.P., S.M. Munson, K.M. Irvine, D.L. Witwicki, and E.L. Bunting. 2016. Semi-arid vegetation response to antecedent climate and water balance windows. Applied Vegetation Science 19: 413 – 429. [Download File]
Munson, S.M., M.C. Duniway, and J.K. Johanson. 2016. Rangeland monitoring reveals long-term plant responses to precipitation and grazing at the landscape-scale. Rangeland Ecology and Management 69: 76 – 83. [Download File]
Gremer, J.R., J.B. Bradford, S.M. Munson, and M.C. Duniway. 2015. Desert grassland responses to climate and soil moisture suggest divergent vulnerabilities across the southwestern U.S. Global Change Biology 21: 4049 – 4062. [Download File]
Sankey, J.B., S.M. Munson, R.H. Webb, C.S.A. Wallace, and C.M. Duran. 2015. Remote sensing of Sonoran desert vegetation structure and phenology with ground-based LiDAR. Remote Sensing 7: 342 – 359. [Download File]
Munson, S.M., A.L. Long, C. Decker, K.A. Johnson, K. Walsh, and M.E. Miller. 2015. Repeated landscape-scale treatments following fire to suppress a non-native annual grass and promote recovery of native perennial vegetation. Biological Invasions 17: 1915 – 1926. [Download File]
Munson, S.M., R.H. Webb, D.C. Housman, K.E. Veblen, K.E. Nussear, E.A. Beever, K.B. Hartney, M.N. Miriti, S.L. Phillips, R.E. Fulton, and N.G. Tallent. 2015. Long-term plant responses to climate are moderated by biophysical attributes in a North American desert. Journal of Ecology 103: 657 – 668. [Download File]
Munson, S.M. and A.A. Sher. 2015. Long-term shifts in the phenology of rare and endemic Rocky Mountain plants. American Journal of Botany 102: 1268 – 1276. [Download File]
Belnap, J., B.J. Walker, S.M. Munson, and R.A. Gill. 2014. Controls on sediment production in two U.S. deserts. Aeolian Research 14: 15 – 24. [Download File]
Munson, S.M., J. Belnap, R.H. Webb, J.A. Hubbard, M.H. Reiser, and K. Gallo. 2014. Climate change and plant community composition in national parks of the southwestern U.S.: forecasting regional, long-term effects to meet management needs: The George Wright Forum 31: 137 – 148. [Download File]
Munson, S.M. and W.K. Lauenroth. 2014. Controls of vegetation structure and net primary production in restored grasslands. Journal of Applied Ecology 51: 988 – 996. [Download File]
Sankey, J.S., D.D. Breshears, D.J. Law, S.M. Munson, and R.H. Webb. 2013. Employing lidar to detail vegetation canopy architecture for prediction of aeolian flux. Geophysical Research Letters 40: 1724 – 1728 [Download File]
Munson, S.M., E.H. Muldavin, J. Belnap, D.P.C. Peters, J.P. Anderson, M.H. Reiser, K. Gallo, A. Melgoza, J.E. Herrick, T.A. Christiansen. 2013. Regional signatures of plant response to drought and elevated temperature across a desert ecosystem. Ecology 94: 2030 – 2041. [Download File]
Munson, S.M. 2013. Plant responses, climate pivot points, and tradeoffs in water-limited ecosystems. Ecosphere 4: 109. [Download File]
Neff, J.C., R.L. Reynolds, S.M. Munson, D. Fernandez, and J. Belnap. 2013. The role of dust storms in total atmospheric particle concentrations at two sites in the western U.S. Journal of Geophysical Research 118: 11201 – 11212. [Download File]
Munson, S.M., W.K. Lauenroth, and I.C. Burke. 2012. Soil carbon and nitrogen recovery on semiarid Conservation Reserve Program lands. Journal of Arid Environments 79: 25 – 31. [Link]
Munson, S.M. and W.K. Lauenroth. 2012. Plant community recovery following restoration in semiarid grasslands. Restoration Ecology 20: 656 – 663. [Link]
Munson, S.M., R.H. Webb, J. Belnap, J.A. Hubbard, D.E. Swann, and S. Rutman. 2012. Forecasting climate change impacts to plant community composition in the Sonoran Desert region. Global Change Biology 18: 1083 – 1095. [Download File]
Munson, S.M., J. Belnap, G.S. Okin. 2011. Responses of wind erosion to climate induced vegetation changes on the Colorado Plateau. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108: 3854 – 3859.[Download File]
Munson, S.M., J. Belnap, C.D. Schelz, M. Moran, and T.W. Carolin. 2011. On the brink of change: plant responses to climate on the Colorado Plateau. Ecosphere 2: Article 68. [Download File]
Munson, S.M., R.H. Webb, and J.A. Hubbard. 2011. A comparison of methods to assess long-term changes in Sonoran Desert vegetation. Journal of Arid Environments 75: 1228 – 1231. [Download File]
Belnap, J., S.M. Munson, and J.P. Field. 2011. Aeolian and fluvial processes in dryland regions: the need for integrated studies. Ecohydrology 4: 615 – 622. [Download File]
Munson, S.M., T.J. Benton, W.K. Lauenroth, and I.C. Burke. 2010. Soil carbon flux following pulse precipitation events in the shortgrass steppe. Ecological Research 25: 205 – 211. [Link]
Li, J., G.S. Okin, J.E. Herrick, J. Belnap, S.M. Munson, and M.E. Miller. 2010. A simple method to estimate threshold friction velocity of wind erosion in the field. Geophysical Research Letters 37: L10402. [Link]
Anderson, G., S. Rutman, and S.M. Munson. 2010. Plant population and habitat characteristics of the endemic Sonoran Desert cactus Peniocereus striatus in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona. Madroño 57: 220 – 228. [Link]
Munson, S.M. and W.K. Lauenroth. 2009. Plant population and community responses to removal of the dominant species in the shortgrass steppe. Journal of Vegetation Science 20: 224 – 232. [Link]
Bontti, E.E., J.P. DeCant, S.M. Munson, M.A. Gathany, A. Przeszlowska, M.L. Haddix, S. Owens, I.C. Burke, W.J. Parton, and M.E. Harmon. 2009. Litter decomposition in grasslands of Central North America (US Great Plains). Global Change Biology 15: 1356 – 1363. [Link]
Science and Products
Date published: August 5, 2017
Status: Active RestoreNet: Distributed Field Trial Network for Dryland Restoration
Recovery from disturbance represents a substantial challenge to agencies that manage large tracts of land in the Southwest. Despite the demand for restoration and rehabilitation, little information is available to help managers effectively reestablish native perennial vegetation and stabilize soils, especially given changing climate and disturbance regimes.
Forestry and agriculture have...
Contacts: Seth Munson, Brad Butterfield, Elise Gornish
Date published: February 28, 2017
Status: Active Southwest Energy Development and Drought (SWEDD)
Deserts of the southwestern US are replete with oil and gas deposits as well as sites for solar, wind, and geothermal energy production. In the past, many of these resources have been too expensive to develop, but increased demand and new technologies have led to an increase in exploration and development. However, desert ecosystems generally have low resilience to disturbance. More frequent,...
Attribution: Environments Program, Southwest Biological Science Center
Date published: December 9, 2016
Status: Active RAMPS: Restoration Assessment & Monitoring Program for the Southwest
The Restoration Assessment and Monitoring Program for the Southwest (RAMPS) seeks to assist U.S. Department of the Interior and other land management agencies and private partners in developing successful restoration strategies for dryland ecosystems of the southwestern United States. Invasive species, drought, habitat loss, fire, urban expansion, and other disturbances have degraded...
Date published: June 7, 2012
Status: Active Climate change and ecohydrology in temperate dryland ecosystems: a global assessment
Water cycling and availability exert dominant control over ecological processes and the sustainability of ecosystem services in water - limited ecosystems. Consequently, dryland ecosystems have the potential to be dramatically impacted by hydrologic alterations emerging from global change, notably increasing temperature and altered precipitation patterns. In addition, the possibility of...
Attribution: John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis
Year Published: 2019
Spatiotemporal patterns of cheatgrass invasion in Colorado Plateau National Parks
Exotic annual grasses are transforming native arid and semi-arid ecosystems globally by accelerating fire cycles that drive vegetation state changes. Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), a particularly widespread and aggressive exotic annual grass, is a key management target in national parks of the western United States due to its impacts on...
Bishop, Tara B.B.; Munson, Seth M.; Gill, Richard; Belnap, Jayne; St. Clair, Samuel B.; Petersen, Steven L.
Year Published: 2019
Assessing rangeland health under climate variability and change
RANGELAND HEALTH IN A CHANGING WORLD Rangeland health is an integrated metric that describes a complex suite of ecosystem properties and processes as applied to resource management. While the concept of “healthy” landscapes has a long history, the term “rangeland health” was codified in the US in 1994 as part of an effort to move towards a...
Bradford, John B.; Duniway, Michael C.; Munson, Seth M.
Year Published: 2019
Invasive buffelgrass detection using high-resolution satellite and UAV imagery on Google Earth Engine
Methods to detect and monitor the spread of invasive grasses are critical to avoid ecosystem transformations and large economic costs. The rapid spread of non-native buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) has intensified fire risk and is replacing fire intolerant native vegetation in the Sonoran Desert of the southwestern U.S. Coarse-resolution...
Elkind, Kaitlyn; Sankey, Temuulen T.; Munson, Seth M.; Aslan, Clare E.
Year Published: 2019
Long‐term plant community trajectories suggest divergent responses of native and non‐native perennials and annuals to vegetation removal and seeding treatments
Land managers frequently apply vegetation removal and seeding treatments to restore ecosystem function following woody plant encroachment, invasive species spread, and wildfire. However, the long‐term outcome of these treatments is unclear due to a lack of widespread monitoring. We quantified how vegetation removal (via wildfire or management)...
Copeland, Stella M.; Munson, Seth M.; Bradford, John B.; Butterfield, Bradley J.; Gunnell, Kevin L.
Year Published: 2019
Influence of climate, post‐treatment weather extremes, and soil factors on vegetation recovery after restoration treatments in the southwestern US
AimsUnderstanding the conditions associated with dryland vegetation recovery after restoration treatments is challenging due to a lack of monitoring data and high environmental variability over time and space. Tracking recovery trajectories with satellite‐based vegetation indices can strengthen predictions of restoration outcomes across broad...
Copeland, Stella M.; Munson, Seth M.; Bradford, John B.; Butterfield, Bradley J.
Year Published: 2019
Landscape pivot points and responses to water balance in national parks of the southwest US
A recent drying trend that is expected to continue in the southwestern US underscores the need for site‐specific and near real‐time understanding of vegetation vulnerability so that land management actions can be implemented at the right time and place.We related the annual integrated normalized difference vegetation index (iNDVI), a proxy for...
Thoma, David P.; Munson, Seth M.; Witwicki, Dana L.
Year Published: 2018
Increasing temperature seasonality may overwhelm shifts in soil moisture to favor shrub grass dominance in Colorado Plateau drylands
Ecosystems in the southwestern U.S. are hotspots for climate change, and are predicted to experience continued warming and drying. In these water-limited systems, the balance between herbaceous and woody plant abundance impacts biodiversity and ecosystem processes, highlighting the need to understand how climate change will influence functional...
Gremer, Jennifer R.; Andrews, Caitlin M.; Norris, Jodi R.; Thomas, Lisa P.; Munson, Seth M.; Duniway, Michael C.; Bradford, John B.
Year Published: 2018
Plant production responses to precipitation differ along an elevation gradient and are enhanced under extremes
The sensitivity of plant production to precipitation underlies the functioning of ecosystems. Studies that relate long-term mean annual precipitation and production across multiple sites(spatial relationship) or examine interannual linkages within a site (temporal relationship) can reveal biophysical controls over ecosystem function...
Munson, Seth M.; Bunting, Erin L.; Bradford, John B.; Butterfield, Bradley J.; Gremer, Jennifer R.View Citation
Munson, S.M., Bunting, E.L., Bradford, J.B., Butterfield, B.J., and Gremer, J.R., 2018, Plant production responses to precipitation differ along an elevation gradient and are enhanced under extremes: Ecosystems, online, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-018-0296-3.
Year Published: 2018
Beyond traditional ecological restoration on the Colorado Plateau
The Colorado Plateau is one of North America's five major deserts, encompassing 340,000 km2 of the western U.S., and offering many opportunities for restoration relevant to researchers and land managers in drylands around the globe. The Colorado Plateau is comprised of vast tracts of public land managed by local, state, and federal agencies...
Winkler, Daniel E.; Backer, Dana M.; Belnap, Jayne; Bradford, John B.; Butterfield, Bradley J.; Copeland, Stella M.; Duniway, Michael C.; Faist, Akasha M.; Fick, Stephen E.; Jensen, Scott L.; Kramer, Andrea T.; Mann, Rebecca; Massatti, Robert; McCormick, Molly L.; Munson, Seth M.; Olwell, Peggy; Parr, Steve D.; Pfennigwerth, Alix; Pilmanis, Adrienne M.; Richardson, Bryce A.; Samuel, Ella; See, Kathy; Young, Kristina E.; Reed, Sasha C.View Citation
Winkler, D.E., Backer, D.M., Belnap, J., Bradford, J.B., Butterfield, B.J., Copeland, S.M., Duniway, M.C., Faist, A.M., Fick, S.E., Jensen, S.L., Kramer, A.T., Mann, R., Massatti, R.T., McCormick, M.L., Munson, S.M., Olwell, P., Parr, S.D., Pfennigwerth, A.A., Pilmanis, A.M., Richardson, B.A., Samuel, E., See, K., Young, K.E., and Reed, S.C., 2018, Beyond traditional ecological restoration on the Colorado Plateau: Restoration Ecology, online, https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.12876.
Year Published: 2018
Mapping and measuring aeolian sand dunes with photogrammetry and LiDAR from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and multispectral satellite imagery on the Paria Plateau, AZ, USA
The Paria Plateau is a potentially important but relatively unstudied aeolian sand source area in the Grand Canyon region of Arizona, USA. This study used unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV) - based LiDAR and structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry to produce high-resolution topographic models of aeolian dunes on the plateau. We...
Solazzo, Daniel; Sankey, Joel B.; Sankey, Temuulen T.; Munson, Seth M.View Citation
Solazzo, D., Sankey, J.B., Sankey, T.T., and Munson, S.M., 2018, Mapping and measuring aeolian sand dunes with photogrammetry and LiDAR from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and multispectral satellite imagery on the Paria Plateau, AZ, USA: Geomorphology, v. 319, p. 174-185, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2018.07.023.
Year Published: 2018
Ecosystem thresholds, tipping points, and critical transitions
Abrupt shifts in ecosystems are cause for concern and will likelyintensify under global change (Scheffer et al., 2001). The terms‘thresho lds’, ‘tipping points’, and ‘critical transitions’ have beenused interchangeably to refer to sudden changes in the integrityor state of an ecosystem caused by environmental drivers(Holling, 1973; May, 1977)....
Munson, Seth M.; Reed, Sasha C.; Peñuelas, Josep; McDowell, Nathan G.; Sala, Osvaldo E.View Citation
Munson, S.M., Reed, S.C., Peñuelas, J., McDowell, N.G., and Sala, O.E., 2018, Ecosystem thresholds, tipping points, and critical transitions: New Phytologist, v. 218, p. 1315-1317, https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.15145.
Year Published: 2018
Functional group, biomass, and climate change effects on ecological drought in semiarid grasslands
Water relations in plant communities are influenced both by contrasting functional groups (grasses, shrubs) and by climate change via complex effects on interception, uptake and transpiration. We modelled the effects of functional group replacement and biomass increase, both of which can be outcomes of invasion and vegetation management, and...
Wilson, Scott D.; Schlaepfer, Daniel R.; Bradford, John B.; Lauenroth, William K.; Duniway, Michael C.; Hall, Sonia A.; Jamiyansharav, Khishigbayar; Jia, Gensuo; Lkhagva, Ariuntsetseg; Munson, Seth M.; Pyke, David A.; Tietjen, BrittaView Citation
Wilson, S.D., Schlaepfer, D.R., Bradford, J.B., Lauenroth, W.K., Duniway, M.C., Hall, S.A., Jamiyansharav, K., Jia, G., Lkhagva, A., Munson, S.M., Pyke, D.A., Tietjen, B., 2018, Functional group, biomass, and climate change effects on ecological drought in semiarid grasslands: Journal of Geophysical Research - Biogeosciences, p. online, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JG004173.
Pre-USGS Publications
Munson, S.M. and W.K. Lauenroth. 2009. Plant population and community responses to removal of the dominant species in the shortgrass steppe. Journal of Vegetation Science 20: 224–232.
Munson, S.M. and W.K. Lauenroth. 2012. Plant community recovery following restoration in semiarid grasslands. Restoration Ecology 20: 656–663.
Munson, S.M., W.K. Lauenroth, and I.C. Burke. 2012. Soil carbon and nitrogen recovery on semiarid Conservation Reserve Program lands. Journal of Arid Environments 79: 25–31
Date published: September 6, 2017
Wildfire and Invasive Species Drives Increasing Size and Cost of Public Land Restoration Efforts
An examination of long-term data for lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management finds that land treatments in the southwestern United States are increasingly large, expensive and related to fire and invasive species control.
Date published: February 10, 2015
Predicting Plant Responses to Drought
A new U.S. Geological Survey study shows how plants’ vulnerability to drought varies across the landscape; factors such as plant structure and soil type where the plant is growing can either make them more vulnerable or protect them from declines.
Date published: February 15, 2012
Hotter and Drier Climate Likely to Alter Abundance of Sonoran Desert Plants
TUCSON, Ariz. – Climate change is likely to have strong effects on the abundance of dominant Sonoran Desert plant species, according to a study published recently in Global Change Biology.
Date published: October 12, 2011
Arizona Dust Storms: USGS Science Explains the Phenomenon
A dust storm that rolled across the Arizona desert on Tuesday, October 4, 2011, effectively blinded motorists, leading to a large string of motor vehicle crashes, multiple injuries, and at least one death.
Date published: February 24, 2011
Drier Conditions Projected to Accelerate Dust Storms in the Southwest
Drier conditions projected to result from climate change in the Southwest will likely reduce perennial vegetation cover and result in increased dust storm activity in the future, according to a new study by scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of California, Los Angeles.