Sensitivity to Change in Arid Land Ecosystems (SCALE)
Temporal and spatial components predispose aridland ecosystems of the Colorado Plateau to change. Possible changes in the intensity of summer monsoonal precipitation and increases in soil temperatures are two likely outcomes of climate change predicted by virtually all of the GCM modeling efforts. The deserts of the Intermountain West are at a junction where both of these environmental factors are likely to be significant and could play major roles in influencing ecosystem dynamics and plant community structure. Compounding this situation is that the cryptobiotic soils, which form a crust at the surface, appear to be the primary means of both introducing nitrogen into these ecosystems and stabilizing the surface from erosion. These soils have been disrupted by grazing and other anthropogenic activities, creating spatial heterogeneity and making these ecosystems more sensitive to change. Our climate change project focused on the Sensitivity to Change in Arid Land Ecosystems (SCALE). We focused on establishing new field sites, initiating new rounds of experimental ecophysiological and community-level competition experiments to determine the sensitivity and responsiveness of species to changes in the availability of summer moisture inputs to complement previous research conducted for the DOE. It has been quite surprising to see that in this arid land ecosystem, where water is a primary factor limiting growth, many of the dominant perennials exhibit limited uptake of that summer moisture. The research was concentrated in three main areas: Community-wide responses to water/nutrient pulses; Competitive interactions among life forms; Modeling plant responses to environmental variability.
- Research Organization:
- Dr. James Ehleringer (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science and Technology (OST) (EM-50) (US)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG03-95ER62123
- OSTI ID:
- 775443
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ER/62123-3; TRN: AH200124%%132
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 1 Mar 2001
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Remote sensing and ecosystem simulation modeling of the intermountain sagebrush-steppe, with implications for global climate change
Final Technical Report: Effects of Changing Water and Nitrogen Inputs on a Mojave Desert Ecosystem